Livescore
Cody Rhodes returned to WWE in 2022, and for the next three years, he’d end up headlining the company’s biggest show, WrestleMania. While his program with Roman Reigns was a huge box office success, his next is with John Cena.
At WrestleMania 41, The American Nightmare will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against a heel John Cena. Hall of Famer Mark Henry believes it doesn’t get bigger than that, especially with Cena joining forces with The Rock, of all people.
Henry noted on the Busted Open podcast that WWE does not like it when they have to negotiate with superstars. This happens when the star becomes bigger than the business itself, and it has happened before. Names such as The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and John Cena come to mind.
“The WWE does not want to build super champions anymore because they have to negotiate too much with them. They want people they can control. It’s not the case with Cody [Rhodes]. Cody does what he has to do with this situation, he’s going to be bigger than wrestling, like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin became bigger than wrestling,” Henry said. [From 22:14 onwards]
You can check out Henry’s comments in the podcast below:
The Hall of Famer gave Stone Cold Steve Austin’s recent in-ring return as an example, stating that the legend could demand however much money he wanted because the returns will always be higher.
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes reportedly turned down The Rock’s plan to turn him into a villain
The original plan was for Cody Rhodes to turn heel and join forces with The Rock, reported Fightful Select. However, The American Nightmare had no desire to execute such a drastic move at this point, as he remains a very popular babyface. The story was then offered to John Cena, who accepted. The Final Boss went “all in” once Cena was game.
Cody Rhodes addressed the general sentiment among industry veterans and fans that a heel run for The American Nightmare character would be the best track. He was disinterested mainly because of the young demographic, who look up to him. In more ways than one, Rhodes has replaced Cena as the undisputed babyface of WWE, making it a fitting role for John to portray the villain in this narrative.
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Please credit the source and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you’re using quotes from the first part of this article.
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