Cody Rhodes Doesn't Think The Rock Is In His Way, Questions If He's Being Naive

Given The Rock's recent WWE appearance - and tease of a match with Roman Reigns - many fans are becoming concerned about Cody Rhodes' chance to redeem his loss to the Tribal Chief at last year's WrestleMania. The sudden announcement of Dwayne Johnson's addition to the TKO Board of Directors has only added to fears that Rhodes won't finish the story. 

With the Royal Rumble taking place this Saturday and WrestleMania 40 on the horizon, Cody is certainly among the frontrunners to headline one of the event's two nights. But the shock return of CM Punk to WWE, and the aforementioned reappearance of Dwayne Johnson may have bumped him down the pecking order. However, Rhodes himself isn't worried. Speaking to Marc Raimondi of ESPN before the Johnson-TKO announcement, the American Nightmare stated: 

"I don't consider him [The Rock] in my way. Maybe he is, and I'm being naive to it. Maybe he wants to get in, I don't know. But I don't consider him in my way. Again, The Rock is one of the main reasons we're here today. Nothing but respect. But also at the same time, I have to have the respect for myself to know where I'd like to go."

2023 men's Royal Rumble winner Cody shockingly lost his title shot at year's WrestleMania, which saw Roman Reigns retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, an outcome few would have predicted. Having kept the title through prior feuds with popular stars such as Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, the general consensus seemed to be that Reigns would be dethroned by Rhodes in an ultimate moment of triumph for the American Nightmare, fulfilling Cody's desire to "finish the story" - the mantra he adopted upon returning to WWE.

It remains to be seen whether Cody will make it to a rematch with Roman, but he has two potential routes, as laid out by Rhodes himself in the ESPN interview:

"For me to be able to get back, I've got to win in one of those two settings - the Royal Rumble or the Elimination Chamber, and that's really where my focus is at. I can't see WrestleMania 40 until I see one of those."