Negative Backstage Reaction From WWE Talent & Creative To The Rock Vs. Roman Reigns At WrestleMania

The main event picture for WrestleMania 40 has been turned upside down due to The Rock emerging to challenge Roman Reigns for the show, with Cody Rhodes stepping aside. This has caused uproar online, with many being completely baffled by the creative decision to go down this route. The negative reaction isn’t confined to just fans though, as people in WWE have given unsavoury reactions to this route too.

Fightful Select reached out to many of those in WWE, and their report details that no one out over three dozen individuals played devil’s advocate for the decision to book The Rock vs. Roman Reigns rather than Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns.

When it comes to talents who were reached out to by Fightful, among them was a former world champion who said that this year it makes zero sense in any capacity to run with Rock vs. Reigns, whereas it would’ve done in previous years. Another talent who has apparently known The Rock for a long time noted that the look on The Rock’s face was reminiscent of The Rock at the 2015 Royal Rumble;

“I’ve known Dwayne a long time. Not only did the look on Cody’s face tell a story, the look on Dwayne’s told a story. I think in that moment he knew that this decision wasn’t going to work out quite the way that he imagined it. He was experiencing the same thing that he and Roman experienced in Philadelphia. He was being co-signed for something the vast majority didn’t want.”

On the creative side, a source revealed a deflated feeling among many, as the working plan was of course different heading into this week. Another name in creative stated that “not only does it make less sense than ever right now, it’s undermining one of the biggest stories we’ve ever told and turning off a lot of our fans.”

The video of The Rock challenging Roman Reigns has received the biggest number of dislikes out of any video in the history of WWE’s YouTube channel, not to mention a sea of negativity from fans online. Some mainstream outlets have caught wind of the story such as TMZ, so it remains to be seen if WWE will pivot.