The Rock & Triple H Reveal What Really Changed WWE WrestleMania 40 Main Event
Triple H and The Rock have both opened up about what really went on in the build-up to WrestleMania 40 amid serious fan backlash to WWE’s plans.
Cody Rhodes finished his story and won the WWE Title from Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 but things were almost very different.
Despite losing to Reigns at WrestleMania 39 and rebuilding himself over the next year to conquer The Tribal Chief, Cody Rhodes was almost unseated from his WrestleMania 40 match by The Rock.
The Rock joined WWE’s parent company’s Board of Directors in early 2024 and very quickly he was back on TV with Cody Rhodes seemingly stepping aside to allow The Rock to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania despite The American Nightmare winning the men’s Royal Rumble for the second year in a row and having his pick of opponent.
WWE fans were not happy with that development and it’s long been assumed The Rock decided to pivot into a heel turn and let Cody Rhodes back into his slot and now those behind those decisions have revealed what really went on.
The Rock’s Gut Led To WrestleMania Change
In the newly released documentary WrestleMania 40: Behind the Curtain, Triple H and The Rock both open up about what really happened in the run up to the show.
Triple H detailed talking to Cody Rhodes on the afternoon of the Royal Rumble – before he won the match that sealed his place at WrestleMania – and admitting to Rhodes that the likelihood of The Rock facing Roman Reigns being greater than ever:
I sat with Cody at the Royal Rumble in the afternoon and told him it was becoming more of a reality that the match with Roman and The Rock could take place at WrestleMania. I don’t think anybody knew a thing outside of Cody. And I’m sure that was a brutal day.
Obviously his next question is where does that leave me. I’m like, not sure yet. So that’s on me to figure out because this is all happening in real time…we’re going to see what the reaction is.
With the reaction from fans not being what they wanted, The Rock revealed he got on the phone and explained why he wanted to change direction:
I called Nick [Khan] and Triple H and I called Ari [Emanuel]. I said, here’s how I’m feeling. We can truck through this and we can put on this main event. And the majority of the world, many of which who don’t watch WWE who we do plan on pulling in…they’re going to love this idea of Rock and Roman and we’re going to tell this amazing story. Hopefully this will be the first chapter of a few. We could do that.
However, my gut says Ari, Nick, Triple H, my gut says I don’t like, even if its like a segment of fans, I don’t like that they’re upset. And that really bugged the s*** out of me. And it’s not how I’ve operated my entire career. I don’t like it. And I knew, essentially, the choice was mine.
The Rock ended up teaming with Roman Reigns to defeat Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a huge tag team match on night one of WrestleMania 40. There is a strong belief that The Rock and Cody Rhodes will clash in a singles match that could headline WrestleMania 41 in 2025.