Star Wars Provides Inspiration For WWE's The Rock Vs. Cody Rhodes Plans

The relationship between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker has provided inspiration for the feud between Cody Rhodes and The Rock on WWE TV, according to Dwayne Johnson's close confidante and creative collaborator Brian Gewirtz. 

Appearing on The Ringer's Masked Man Show, Gewirtz stated: 

"We've always envisioned that the ending of WrestleMania and the 'Raw' after WrestleMania too, as somewhat of the equivalent of Darth Vader at the end of 'Star Wars' kind of getting spun out, but not killed. And the babyfaces have their moment, and they have their big medal ceremony on Yavin and everything, and Darth Vader kind of just is checking his ship, making sure it's okay, and zooming out, and 'This ain't over yet.' You have no idea what's coming next, and that's I think kind of... there's a lot of Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker to Rock and Cody Rhodes, even though, you know... obviously, he's not his father or anything. But there's still a lot of... parallels between that... That's, I feel, going to continue, because he flat-out said it. It's like 'Your story with Roman's over. Ours is just beginning.' And then he handed him the thing. And we'll see where that goes."

The Rock and Cody Rhodes have feuded on WWE TV since early 2024 when Dwayne Johnson initially replaced Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 40 until Cody changed his mind. This led to The Rock pinning Cody in their tag team match in the main event of WrestleMania 40 night one. The Rock handed Cody an object on the Raw after WrestleMania 40 and the current plan for WrestleMania 41 is The Rock vs. Cody Rhodes. 

There were political plays behind the scenes over the main event of WrestleMania 40 and the original plan would have seen The Rock defeat Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and then immediately vacate the belt and head back to Hollywood. Roman Reigns would have then won back the vacant title and dropped the championship to Cody Rhodes later in the year. 

H/T Wrestling Inc.