Is Cody Rhodes the Luke Skywalker or the Anakin Skywalker of the WWE Universe? While many a fan and even a few Hall of Famers like Paul Heyman and Bully Ray have debated this question, if the answer is the former, then who, one could ask, is the Darth Vader of WWE?
Well, in the opinion of Brian Gewirtz, the long-time writer for and production partner of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the answer has to be “The Great One,” and over his next few months away from the promotion, he fully expects to see the “Brahma Bull” cut a few Sith-esque promos on social media to really keep the “American Nightmare” on his toes.
“I think it was very satisfying. This was probably some of the most fun Rock has ever had, not only as a performer in WWE, but period, in Final Boss mode. We always envision that ending of WrestleMania and the Raw After WrestleMania as somewhat of the equivalent as Darth Vader at the end of Star Wars getting spun out, but not killed. The babyface had their moment and big medal ceremony, and Darth Vader is checking his sh*t, making sure it's okay and ‘this ain't over yet' and ‘you have no idea what's coming next.' There is a lot of Darth Vader-Luke Skywalker to Rock and Cody Rhodes. He's not his father or anything, but there are a lot of parallels to that,” Brian Gewirtz told the Masked Men Show via Fightful.
“That's, I feel, going to continue. He flat out set it. ‘Your story with Roman is over, ours is just beginning,' and then he handed him the thing and we'll see where that goes. There is definitely a difference between the usual ‘I'm going to go make a movie and maybe I'll return' to this lingering presence over Dwayne Johnson on the TKO Board of Directors and The Rock essentially now existing in the space that is WWE, who can drop a Final Boss promo on Instagram anytime he wants in relation to a storyline, or tweet something.
“I don't think it's going to be a regular occurrence, but I do think it's going to happen and it's great because he's in it, and by extension, I'm in it too. We're all so happy how this run turned out because it's a hell of a lot more interesting and fun and unpredictable than had we just gone Rock vs. Roman, babyface vs. heel. I'm sure that would have been good, too. We had some fun ideas for that, but this new direction, nothing is out of bounds in terms of ‘why don't we suggest this.' ‘Yeah, let's try it and do it.'”
On paper, this is sort of a silly idea, but then again, when you consider wrestling at its core is very silly and heavily inspired by the film industry, why not take Sami Zayn's Rock III and raise Rhodes' Return of the Jedi, with Johnson trying to pull the “American Nightmare” to the dark side before his “son” pulls him back to the light in the end. All things considered, that might be a very fun angle to take this storyline moving forward, especially if we get a few weeks of heel Cody to wet fans' whistles.
AJ Styles wants to wrestle The Rock, but there's a catch.
While The Rock may sit atop of the WWE Universe like a dark, Darth Vader-type presence, one person who hopes he becomes a bit more like Anakin Skywalker once more is AJ Styles if only so they can have a match together with the former working babyface and the latter serving as the heel.
“Of course, I’m interested–but only if that means The Rock is turning babyface. I’m not interested in being a mediocre bad guy,” AJ Styles told Sports Illustrated. “I want to bring this to a whole new level. I like to think I’m one of the few old-school guys left. I look back, and I’m so thankful I was able to pay off my house. That’s one of those things I hoped to do in my career, that I could do something I enjoy and provide for my family–and still have something left over for retirement. I’ve stuck with it long enough to take care of everyone who needed to be taken care of. As bad, ugly, and mean as a heel is supposed to be, I’m going to be that guy. When I step into an arena, I want more boos than Dominik Mysterio. That’s what I’m after. That’s my job, and I want to do it better than anybody.”
Would a Styles/Rock match have value in 2024 or even beyond? Most definitely, but considering where Styles stands at this point in his career, with the “Phenomenal One” set to talk to Nick Aldis about his future, it's worth wondering if the TNA legend could end up retiring before The Rock even returns to SmackDown for another run on the Blue Brand.
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