Cody Rhodes is reportedly unlikely to headline this year’s WrestleMania.
The 38-year-old had been tipped to be the main attraction at WrestleMania 40 in April, but those plans appear to have been put on hold.
According to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Rhodes will not headline WrestleMania and he will not ‘finish the story’ by beating Roman Reigns for the undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
The report adds that WWE are instead working on pitting Cody against CM Punk at WrestleMania, which would pave the way for a showdown between Roman Reigns and The Rock on the second night of the event.
The Rock, who was appointed to the board of directors at WWE umbrella company TKO on Tuesday, returned to WWE on January 1 and teased a match with Reigns.
Cody Rhodes is reportedly unlikely to headline this year’s WrestleMania
Rhodes was expected to face Roman Reigns at the WWE event in April
Reigns has been Universal Champion in the company since 2021, and unified the world titles to become Undisputed WWE Universal Champion in 2022 at WrestleMania when he beat Brock Lesnar.
‘I’m a long-gamer and I like to build,’ The Rock said on ESPN’s First Take.
‘Something like this, if myself and Roman Reigns were to main event WrestleMania – and I mean this very respectfully of all the WrestleManias prior, because I grew up in this business and I love it – we could possibly put on, with us as a main event and this incredible group of men and women who are incredible performers, the greatest and the biggest WrestleMania of all time.
The Rock, real name Dwayne Johnson, made a surprise return to WWE last month
‘There’s a chance. I love this business, I love pro wrestling, I love WWE, but also I have this deep passion to grow it and to build it. If we are going to do something like this, I want the world to watch.’
Last year, Rhodes won the men’s Royal Rumble match and challenged Reigns for the title in the main event of WrestleMania 39.
However, he lost out and has since been vocal about his desire of getting another shot at Reigns at WrestleMania.
The Rock’s return to WWE, however, could complicate his plans.
