"Burn it down!" - Cody Rhodes recalls his wife Brandi Rhodes' reaction to WWE forcing him to give up his WrestleMania spot to The Rock
Cody Rhodes initially had to give up his WWE WrestleMania spot to The Rock despite winning the 2024 Royal Rumble match. He recently disclosed his wife Brandi's reaction to the decision.
Before the "We Want Cody" movement led the Stamford-based company to change its plans for the WrestleMania 40 main event, The American Nightmare was forced to give up his spot to the returning Rock. The Final Boss was scheduled to fight his cousin, then-Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. As Rhodes was unhappy with the promotion's decision, he recalled his wife's advice.
The 39-year-old current Undisputed WWE Champion revealed in a recent interview with Flagrant that Brandi asked him to "burn it down."
"Here's the best part about it. In my mind, I'm thinking what can I do, right? What can I do? Should I pursue being angry about this? What can I do? Should I just move on to the next thing at this point in my life? I think I just need to be a professional. It's a rare moment of maturity, like, no, they've got some plan, I'm gonna go with their plan and almost defeated. And now I hate thinking of myself thinking that way. My wife is like, 'Burn it down!' But I did nothing," he said. [1:43:43 - 1:44:13]
Cody Rhodes recalled what The Rock whispered to him on WWE SmackDown
On the February 2nd episode of SmackDown, Cody Rhodes confronted Roman Reigns after winning the 2024 Men's Royal Rumble match. He told him he would go after his title, but not at WrestleMania. The Rock then made a surprise appearance to confront The Original Tribal Chief, teasing a square-off between the two at the Show of Shows.
Before Rhodes left the ring, The Rock whispered something in his ear. In his interview with Flagrant, The American Nightmare revealed what the 52-year-old legend told him:
"Him and I had an embrace. He told me something super sweet in my ear. I'm sure he doesn't mind me sharing, even though we're not best buddies, but he said, 'We're gonna make both our dads proud.' And I like smiled for a brief moment, then I left," he said.
Following the fans' backlash over Rhodes' position, The Rock turned heel and joined The Bloodline. Meanwhile, The American Nightmare defeated Reigns in the main event of night two of WrestleMania 40 to capture the Undisputed WWE Championship.
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