Update On WWE Backstage Reaction To The Rock's Return, Cody Not Finishing The Story

Friday's "WWE SmackDown" saw WrestleMania 40 take a drastic change in direction as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson superseded Cody Rhodes as the challenger to Roman Reigns at the "Show of Shows". Rhodes had won a second Royal Rumble match in a row to secure a title shot at WrestleMania, but with CM Punk ruled out of his penciled-in main event against Seth Rollins with torn triceps, WWE apparently felt the need to shake-up the main event picture. The result; Rhodes is not due to finish his story at this year's WrestleMania. 

Fightful Select published a report earlier today on the matter, having reached out to over 36 contacts in WWE across all departments, and indicated that none had a positive word to say about the creative retcon. One wrestler reportedly said, "Not only did the look on Cody's face tell a story, the look on Dwayne's told a story. I think in that moment he knew that this decision wasn't going to work quite the way that he imagined it. He was experiencing the same thing that he and Roman experienced in Philadelphia. He was being co-signed for something the vast majority didn't want."

This wrestler would be referring to Royal Rumble 2015, where Reigns won the main event despite the fans anointing Daniel Bryan as their choice to main event WrestleMania 31. Rock entered to celebrate his cousin's big win under a shower of boos. Fightful also noted that everybody that had got back to them recognized the short-term business implications of running the match, but felt that this was a decision that could prove harmful in the long-run. 

A source in creative reportedly told Fightful that there was a sense of deflation after the change, feeling it was reminiscent of Vince McMahon's maligned regime where changes were made at the detriment of cultivating new talent. Someone who had worked with Rock reportedly indicated that he had eroded his trust within the comic book movie, film, and football communities and appears to be on track to do the same with wrestling, "the one [fanbase] he has almost universal goodwill with", and while that doesn't speak to him as a person, it risks over-exposure and disenfranchising fans towards him.

One talent reportedly went along with the idea that Johnson had not intended to shunt Rhodes out of the picture through malice, but noted the difference between meaning something and not meaning something when both carry malicious repercussions is moot. Another longtime member of WWE creative questioned the motive, however, when there have been pitches for Rock vs. Reigns for years.

It was noted that at one time an excuse not to do the match was allegedly because the story didn't make sense, but there is a large contingent who feel the story makes even less sense than it did then and it's undermining one of the longest-running and most prominent storylines to be run by this current creative regime. Fightful closed its report with another source indicating that the Anoa'i family — comprised of Johnson, Reigns, and several other industry names — has passed the McMahon family in terms of the power dynamic in professional wrestling, something that isn't expected to change for some time.