Cody Rhodes To The Rock: 'I Don't Think You're A Heel, I Think You're An A**hole'

Prior to hitting the ring to cut a promo on "WWE Raw," Cody Rhodes published a tweet that said, "Apologies for what I'm about to say." What he delivered thereafter, aimed at The Rock, was a blistering, curse-laden tirade with enough sizzle to make standards and practices reach for the phone.

Calling The Rock "a complication" and "a combustible element," Rhodes referenced Rock calling himself, "our favorite heel," which prompted "The American Nightmare" to run off a list of memorable heels that included Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Arn Anderson, Michael Hayes, "Superstar" Billy Graham, and Ric Flair. From there, Cody clarified, "Rock, I don't think you're a heel. I think you're an a**hole." Given some stories of late that claimed The Rock has been playing by a different set of rules than everyone else as to the type of language he gets to use, that was enough to get those of us who have been paying attention to take a little extra notice. Only it would then get more fun.

Rhodes would go on to call The Rock "a whiny b****," said a bunch of nice things about his mom before a stellar execution of setting him straight, telling him he doesn't know his mom at all, and that Mama Rhodes herself "ain't afraid of you, Rock." Putting an exclamation point on his entire rant, Rhodes asked Dwayne if he was "gonna have all that 'Big Dwayne Energy'" when the bell rings on Night 1 of WrestleMania, or if he was gonna have "LDS — Little D*** Syndrome."

With fans in an uproar, the segment would end with "The Wiseman" Paul Heyman confronting Rhodes to negotiate a deal for Friday's "SmackDown" and the end result was a one-on-one encounter between Rhodes and Roman Reigns in which no members of The Bloodline can be present, so long as Rhodes himself also comes alone.