4 things Cody Rhodes could use against The Rock in his promo on WWE RAW
The Rock did anything but hold back in his most recent promo on WWE SmackDown. So, it only makes sense for Cody Rhodes to respond with equal intensity.
With WrestleMania XL only three weeks away, the heated program between The Bloodline and Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins is getting more captivating by the day. So, in his pursuit of fanning the animosity, The Rock completely smoked his WrestleMania rivals in his latest promo.
While The Visionary received a befuddling verbal smackdown too, it was The American Nightmare for whom The Great One reserved his best insults. From reminding the fans of Cody's 'Stardust' days to looping in his mother in the rivalry, The People's Champion showed once again that he's The Final Boss of WWE.
Now, The Dashing One has no choice but to issue a fiery response to get under the Hollywood megastar's skin. In other words, Cody has to 'Just bring it.' Here are four things he could bring up to remind The Rock that he could get personal too.
#4 Black Adam's disappointing box-office numbers
Back in 2007, The Rock's long-running dream of playing a rebellious superhero came to life when he was cast as DC's Black Adam. However, the movie didn't come out until late 2022.
In those 15 years, Dwayne Johnson became one of the most recognized figures in Hollywood. So, when the time finally came for his Black Adam movie to start filming, all signs pointed to it being a blockbuster flick that would inject life into the then struggling DC film universe.
However, the reality turned out to be much different. The Jumanji star found out the hard way that the general audience wasn't interested in a standalone film of Shazam's arch-rival. As a result, Black Adam reportedly couldn't even break even at the box office.
While The Brahma Bull has been a part of underperforming films before, his excitement and hopes for Black Adam indicated that he was truly counting on it to be a success. So, poking the 51-year-old about this failed venture would be a sure-shot way for Cody to get back at him.
#3 Fear of stepping into the ring again due to suffering gruesome injuries in his last (proper) singles match
If it were up to The Rock, he wouldn't leave the WWE Universe's side for more than a few months at a time. However, fans have long accepted that his Hollywood commitments are his main priority now.
Even though The Great One gave it his all to have the best of both worlds, it all came crashing down on him at WrestleMania 29. At the event, he put the WWE Championship on the line against John Cena, a rematch from the previous 'Mania.
Around 15 minutes into the bout, The Attitude Era legend got injured. While he managed to complete the match, he would leave the building with torn muscles and tendons. Thus, he had to take a significant break from his filming schedule, which wasn't pleasant news at all to the parties funding his projects at the time.
Following the WrestleMania disaster, The Rock excused himself from having a full-blown singles match. It has been around 11 years, and only now is he considering stepping into the ring again. The American Nightmare could certainly use this point to plant fear into The Great One's mind, giving him second thoughts about the upcoming tag-team main event.
#2 Throwback to the time he had a 'Rocky' connection with the WWE Universe
In his electrifying promo on WWE SmackDown, The Rock didn't hesitate before mocking Cody Rhodes' run as Stardust. It's public knowledge that The American Nightmare wasn't very fond of said gimmick.
Interestingly, a goofy-gimmick war might as well prove to be the secret ingredient that the back-to-back Royal Rumble winner has been on the lookout for in order to verbally cook The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment.
While The People's Champion isn't just a catchphrase for The Rock, he wasn't always as loved by the fans as he is today. In fact, when he debuted in the mid-1990s as the cookie-cutter Rocky Maivia, it didn't take long for the live crowds to turn against him. They were going deeper than just booing his on-screen persona.
So, if the feud has come to the point of taking jabs at each other's 'down-bad' gimmicks, Cody should've no problem issuing a flaming rebuttal!
#1 Never won a World Championship at WrestleMania
From Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin to Triple H and John Cena, numerous WWE legends have had the privilege of winning the top prize at WrestleMania. Surprisingly, The Rock is not a part of this decorated list.
Despite being a 10-time World Champion in WWE, The Brahma Bull has never relished a crowning moment at The Show of Shows. Furthermore, he has never successfully defended the company's top prize at a 'Mania. So, one would wonder if that thought still lingers in his head.
Obviously, that's something that the 38-year-old superstar could talk about in his promo on WWE RAW. After all, The Rock loves to gloat about the records WWE has been breaking with him back in the fold. So, why not bring up this rarely-mentioned record?
To add salt to the wound, Cody can bring up the fact that he's the reason why The Rock isn't fighting for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania XL.