Although The Rock had been heavily involved in the storyline leading up to WWE Elimination Chamber — notably demanding Cody Rhodes’ “soul” and signaling John Cena to turn on Rhodes — he was absent from WrestleMania 41 and the surrounding events.
During a recent edition of his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast, Matt Hardy opined that The Rock should have appeared during the main event of WrestleMania 41 (Night Two), regardless of his Hollywood commitments.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the finish to Rhodes vs. Cena: “The match, when I watched it back — especially the match they had between one another. You had Cody kicked out of multiple FU’s, right? He escaped the STFU a couple of times. I thought, especially for what I expected for John. You know, John being older… I still thought he had a real solid match for a main event when it was all said and done. The biggest critique I have was just that finish and how Cody was protected. I would have loved to see Rock there. I felt like The Rock being there would have made sense; it would have kind of tied everything together that was part of the story.”
On The Rock needing to be at WrestleMania 41: “After you insert The Rock at Elimination Chamber, I feel like it’s vital for him to be there. That’s the whole thing. That’s what you’re selling the audience on. You put him and Cena together, and that’s the whole selling point of the story they’re telling. So yeah, I wish Rock would have been there as well. And then at the end, Cody has busted his ass for a year. He went through every trial and tribulation to get back in the ring with Roman Reigns, and he finished the story. And as the top guy, he has been the face of WWE. And he has been a legit babyface, and people have believed in him. He seemed ultra-credible. He has had great equity in him. And I just hate the fact that we did that disconnect. Where there were these other guys, where he made those decisions like, ‘Hey, I’ve sold my soul to the people, and I will do anything to retain this title for them. I will do anything to retain this title for him.’ And he showed that in matches like you said, with AJ Styles and Kevin Owens and whoever else. But the fact that he didn’t follow through with that, when John Cena was his opposition and John Cena did these terrible things to him and betrayed him. That’s just something I wasn’t crazy about, because you are going to have Cody, still one of the top, the top characters and one of the faces of the WWE for years to come.”
