We are fully into the Road to Wrestlemania, and of course one of the highlights of last year’s buildup was the emergence of ‘The Final Boss’ with The Rock embracing this new persona and aligning with his Cousin Roman Reigns to try and keep the WWE Universal Championship inside The Bloodline. Following Roman’s loss to Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania we have only seen The Final Boss on a handful of occasions.
First of these was on the Raw After Wrestlemania, we then saw Dwayne again at Bad Blood who simply stayed on the Ramp and signed an ominous count of 3, with it being unclear who or what he was referring to. He then appeared on the first Raw on Netflix where he ended up placing the Ula Fala back around Roman Reigns neck after he’d defeated Solo Sikoa to reclaim his place at the Head of the Table and once and for all establish that he is the Only Tribal Chief.
Most recently, The Rock appeared on this past Friday’s edition of Smackdown for 2 key purposes. The first of which was to formally announce the host city of Wrestlemania 42, which will take place on April 11/12th 2026 at the Superdome in New Orleans. And more interestingly, he wished to speak with Cody Rhodes, and even used his power as a member of the board at TKO to have Cody removed from a 6 man tag match he was due to take part in alongside Damian Priest & Braun Strowman to take on The New Bloodline to ensure Cody would speak with him.
During his promo, The Rock spoke of how great a Champion Cody Rhodes has been over the last year and then spoke of how he wanted Cody to be “his” champion and how much easier he could make Cody’s life with his immense power within WWE. More bizarrely, after Cody assumed that The Rock was referring to his Championship as the thing he wanted “more than anything in the world”, The Rock clarified that what he really wanted was Cody’s soul before cupping his cheek in an oddly sensual way, before reestablishing that he would be at this Saturday’s Elimination Chamber in Toronto to hear Cody’s answer.
The reaction following this segment was full of confusion from fans. While the intent is fairly clear in itself, The Rock wants Cody Rhodes to sell out and become a Corporate Champion, much like Dwayne himself did in 1998. However the tone and length of the promo left many confused. And the post show press conference where Dwayne lifted the veil of kayfabe and explained his logic in the story and what was happening didn’t make things that much clearer for the detractors.
Regardless of how much sense it makes. The Rock is still a massive name and as established, will be at Elimination Chamber on Saturday to hear Cody’s answer. Which begs the question, will Cody sell out to The Rock and if he doesn’t what will The Rock do afterwards. As one would imagine there’d be many stars who would jump at the opportunity to align with ‘The Final Boss’ to become a champion and have a much easier run of things overall. That or make sure to stay on The Rock’s good side in the unlikely event he is a sorcerer and can forcefully absorb Cody’s soul (full of adrenaline) if he says no.
