Former WWE Writer Says Cody Rhodes Didn't Act As Expected During Segment With The Rock

One of the most talked about storylines in WWE history culminated with Cody Rhodes finishing his story and winning the Undisputed WWE Championship from Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. But as wrestling fans now well know, that match seemed to be in jeopardy when Rhodes seemingly gave up his main event spot against Reigns to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Now, The Rock's media partner and former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz has spoken on "Busted Open Radio" about that segment, saying Rhodes played the moment a little more "downtrodden" than he was expecting.

"[I expected] steely confidence, 'I'm playing chess, you're playing checkers. I'm one step ahead of you,'" Gewirtz said. "More like 'I got you Roman, and I'm finishing my story, and you're going to get f***ed. This is all going to work in the end' type of thing. But again ... this is why I say I don't blame Cody ... I think Cody's attitude was, 'Well, I don't like the decision, but I understand. I understand the business that could be done here. So I'll go ahead as best as I can do it.' And he did it, and at the time, we certainly weren't thinking, 'Oh my god, Cody ruined our brilliant creative.'"

Gewirtz said that nobody knew if their decision to have Rhodes give up the WrestleMania main event was going to work. For a second, it seemed fine, as the crowd in Birmingham, Alabama popped for The Rock. But the "vitriol" came hard and fast afterward. Gewirtz said what happened next basically changed the course of WWE history.

"He left me a voice message saying, 'Okay, hear this one out. What if I turned heel? I'm just saying. What if I turned heel, what if we completely flip this thing on its ear and we go in an entirely different direction?'" Gewirtz said.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.