Fans at WWE SmackDown in Birmingham appeared pleased to see The Rock enter the ring alongside Roman Reigns, but social media users were less so.
As most of you are aware, Cody Rhodes announced that he would be stepping aside and would not challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40, leaving that match to The Rock. The show concluded with Cody walking to the back and Rock and Reigns standing face to face. The match is expected to be made official this Thursday at a press conference in Las Vegas, and Cody appears to be challenging Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship.
On social media, there is some joy over the change, but the overall sentiment appears to be negative on The Rock. The entire segment posted on WWE’s YouTube has received the most disliked WWE video ever.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Board, this was a last-minute decision, and when Cody won the Royal Rumble, the plan was for him to challenge Reigns at Mania, but Brock Lesnar’s departure from creative plans and CM Punk’s injury caused a domino effect. Furthermore, The Rock pushed hard for the match with Reigns, and WWE felt they needed something big to divert attention away from the negative Vince McMahon headlines.
