The Rock Pins Cody Rhodes In WWE WrestleMania 40 Main Event, Sets Up Bloodline Rules
The Rock pinned Cody Rhodes after over 40 minutes of tag team action at Night 1 of WWE WrestleMania 40. As such, Sunday night's Undisputed WWE Universal Championship contest between Rhodes and Roman Reigns will be "Bloodline Rules," aka anything goes — although fans got a peak into what that would be like in Saturday's match pitting Reigns and The Rock against Rhodes and Seth Rollins.
The Rock essentially rendered the match an exercise in anarchy when he threatened the referee out of enforcing the rules, saying the official would lose his job for interfering when the melee was taken out into the wider staging area.
"You know The Rock, I don't f*** around," The Rock told the referee as he initiated his count. "You count, you're fired."
WWE attempted to mute the expletives during the live broadcast, but they seemed to be late to the mark, as much of what he'd said was clear. That lends to the suggestion that The Rock went off-script — as has reportedly become a recurring theme of late — making full use of his sway as a director on the board. The Rock continued to take liberties as "The Final Boss," contorting the rules in a savage mauling of Rollins cemented with a low blow in full sight of the ref. In fact, much of the match devolved into Reigns and Rock exercising full use of their influence, while every time the referee appeared to pluck up the courage to intervene, he was swiftly reminded of his role by The Bloodline. This was notably the first match involving Reigns in some time where neither Solo Sikoa nor Jimmy or Jey Uso interfered on behalf of their "Tribal Chief," but The Rock's threats ensured The Bloodline continued to maintain control.
The Rock's power play ultimately led to a controversial victory
Later, Rhodes almost had the match won after a Cody Cutter to Reigns before having a second attempt at the springboard countered with a Superman Punch. A Stomp followed by Cross Rhodes might have done it had it not been for The Rock pulling the ref out of the ring mid-count. Reigns landed another blatant low blow, this time to Rhodes, and hit a Spear, but still only mustered a two count. Roman Reigns attempted a spear for the win before Rollins dragged Rhodes out of the way, with the "Tribal Chief" running through The Rock instead. Rhodes and Rollins hit dual Pedigrees, but Rock and Reigns once again kicked out at two.
As the action continued, The Rock looked to put Cody Rhodes through the Spanish announcers' table with a Rock Bottom, only for Seth Rollins to grab "The Great One's" ankle to allow Rhodes to drive him through the table instead. Meanwhile, Roman Reigns came out of the blue to spear Rollins through the barricade into the timekeeper's area.
The match finally ended when Rhodes looked for a third consecutive Cross Rhodes on Reigns, only for The Rock to slap a leather belt across Rhodes' back, allowing Reigns to score another Spear before tagging out to let his cousin finish the job. From there, Rock landed the Rock Bottom followed by the People's Elbow to score the pin on Rhodes, who sat dejected in the ring as The Bloodline walked to the back.
Te Rock and Reigns' dominance at WrestleMania 40 Night 1 bares resemblance to Marvel Studios' two-part "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame" epics, in which the villain dishes out a debilitating loss to the heroes at the end of the first part of the tale. Fans of Rhodes will be hoping Night 2 continues to follow that redemption arc on Sunday night — Rhodes will face Reigns once more, with the Undisputed WWE Universal title on the line.