When The Rock returned to WWE earlier this year, he decided to "save" WrestleMania by suggesting he take Cody Rhodes' place by facing Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Despite Rhodes making it clear he planned to challenge the Head of the Table, WWE acted fast by airing a video package to build the importance of the World Heavyweight Championship. They also brought the American Nightmare out on SmackDown to welcome back The Rock and pass the torch to the "Great One."
Fans wholly rejected the idea, with the segment becoming WWE's most disliked video on YouTube ever. #WeWantCody trended for days and The Rock's writer Brian Gerwitz has now confirmed that Rhodes not hiding his disappointment played a big role in fans getting the match they wanted.
"Cody is a human being who is genuine and real, and he wears his heart and emotion on his sleeve. In Alabama [February 2 WWE SmackDown], certainly, even if you tell me, 'That would never work, it's stupid to propose it.' The idea was supposed to be, it's like the Nixon-Kennedy debate a little bit where you read the transcript, you're like 'Nixon kicked his ass.' If you watch the actual footage, 'Oh, he was a sweaty terrible mess.'"
"Cody, it was supposed to be, in some form, 'Yeah, F**kin A! Go get 'em Rock! You're going to get your ass kicked, Roman! Let's do this!' and this uplifting promo. Instead, he looked like someone shot his dog in the face in the parking lot. Just look at his expression. By the way, someone else, even when the team wins, looks forlorn and upset and despondent. Julius Randle [Laughs]."
"That, I don't think, helped matters. It might not have changed or affected anything. Certainly, on paper, and I don't blame Cody for that, he's real and one of the realest people I've ever met. He said what he had to say in the promo, but you couldn't mask what he was really feeling, and I think the fans felt that a lot. They felt like 'he doesn't mean a word of this. This is being forced for him to say.'"
"He's despondent. He's literally doing the Michael Cera-Arrested Development, Charlie Brown walk out of the arena when he's supposed to be on cloud nine. I think that had a lot to do with it."
Whether Rhodes anticipated the impact his clear disappointment would have on the situation is hard to say, but how could he be anything other than devastated after The Rock attempted to steal his spot at the Show of Shows?
Thankfully, WWE realised it had made a mistake by following his direction and fans got the ending to WrestleMania they'd spent a year waiting for. As for The Rock, he had no other choice than to turn heel after it became clear fans would boo him.