WWE: The Rock Turns Heel, Aligns With Roman Reigns and The BloodlineWWE: The Rock Turns Heel, Aligns With Roman Reigns and The Bloodline
On the recent February 16th edition of Friday Night SmackDown, fans were in for a treat. Not only was the reigning and defending Undisputed WWE Universal Champion of over 1,260 days set to be in attendance, but so was his real-life cousin Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Many wondered what the fallout would be from the blockbuster WrestleMania XL Kick-Off press conference in Las Vegas, which took place on Super Bowl weekend. And fans didn’t have to wonder for long.
To close the show at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, out strolled Reigns flanked by his wiseman Paul Heyman, Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso. He rolled out the red carpet for The Rock, who arrived to a raucous ovation before proceeding to slander the 20,000+ fans in attendance. After the verbal smackdown was laid by the former People’s Champion, he proceeded to announce that he was joining the Bloodline, making the faction stronger than ever before.
Can Cody Rhodes Finally Finish His Story?
One of the primary reasons for The Rock’s shocking heel turn is the surge in popularity of Cody Rhodes. DraftKings provides betting and offers on WWE and combat sports in general, and they made the immensely popular star a heavy favorite for his initial clash with Reigns at last year’s WrestleMania. He lost that particular contest but has since worked his way back up to number one contender status with his second consecutive Royal Rumble match victory.
Barely a fortnite prior to joining the Bloodline, The Rock was paraded out by the American Nightmare and looked to be on a collision course with Reigns himself. The two had a face-off in Birmingham, Alabama and, while the crowd did indeed go wild, the wider wrestling community rebelled against the proposed matchup and rallied behind Rhodes. That forced WWE’s hand and they, to their credit, changed course back to Reigns vs Rhodes II.
As a result, The Rock duly slapped Rhodes in the face in Las Vegas, before stating that he would do everything in his power to ensure that Rhodes walks out of Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on April 7th at WrestleMania the same way he walks in; a loser. This suggests that the deck will be stacked against the 2024 Royal Rumble match winner once again, just as it was in SoFi Stadium last year. However, this time around he will have backup.
Cody’s Shield
Current World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins has stated that no superstar is more uniquely suited to be his “Shield” than himself, indicating that he will be in Rhodes’ corner. There have also been rumors that the duo will face off with The Rock and Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania night one. Whether that comes to pass remains to be seen, but the Visionary will certainly be supporting Rhodes, as may Sami Zayn.
On the February 12th episode of Monday Night Raw, Rhodes saved the former Honorary Uce from a beat down at the hands of Drew McIntyre, and that may be enough to also secure Zayn’s support on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
