The road to WrestleMania XL took a major turn at the WrestleMania XL Kickoff when Cody Rhodes declared he would be challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title.
Cody, who won the Royal Rumble, seemingly stepped aside and allowed The Rock to take his place against Roman on the previous episode of WWE SmackDown. Over the weekend, the fans began the "We Want Cody" movement, and plans had changed by the WrestleMania XL Kickoff.
"In his defense, I think Rock has become so busy, his output is incredible. I don't think he knew so much about the current landscape. He knows the company backward and forwards; the show is called SmackDown because he said that word. He set the table for everybody, but I don't think he was always keeping an eye on the table. I think over the course of that week, and I could be wrong, I'm so glad that he did see 'Okay, it's bigger,'" Cody recalled on The Flagrant podcast.
Instead of Rock vs. Roman, Rock and Roman teamed to face Seth Rollins and Cody at night one of WrestleMania XL.
Asked if he has "beef" with The Rock, Cody said "No, just when a situation like that happens and it's very real, the fans have made a choice. It's very real. I think there is a lingering tension, perhaps.
"I universally love him. I grew up a Rock fan. We have yet to debrief on WrestleMania and what happened. I bet his story is a little different. Maybe some bad advice came or maybe he didn't get good knowledge of, 'Here is the current layout and who is sitting at that table.' I'd love that, if one day we could have this debrief. I never want to do anything in secret or behind the scenes. Truth is, when that happened, you start thinking, 'What if I told such and such this story.' No, you can't. I got very defensive."
Cody won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship from Roman at night two of WrestleMania XL. The following night on WWE Raw, Rock confronted Cody and said their story was just beginning.
Elsewhere during the interview, Cody commented on his conversation with Roman at WWE Bad Blood. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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