When Cody Rhodes threw CM Punk over the top rope at the Royal Rumble, he effectively punched his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 40, declaring boldly and without a second thought, “Roman Reigns, I want you!”

… but then, after being propositioned to wrestle Seth Rollins on RAW, Rhodes just sort of balked at the moment, seemingly handing the opportunity off to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for a “dream match” between “The Great One” and the “Tribal Chief” so controversial it led to death threats towards NXT GM Ava, aka Simone Johnson.

… but then, again, after a few days of further fan outcry from the “Cody Crybabies” and an unusual spot RAW that portrayed Rhodes looking like a shell of himself, suddenly, the promotion swerved fans once more, with the “American Nightmare” interrupting the Reigns/Rock segment at the WWE WrestleMania 40 Kickoff event – which, technically, was an interruption of a Seth Rollins segment – and just like that, made an announcement that would change the presumed card in an official way.

“Hold on, hold on, this, this right here, is bulls**t. Roman, Roman, you're out here calling the shots, dictating WrestleMania 40, and as the ‘Tribal Chief,' as the Undisputed Champion, you have a lot of stroke, but it is not your right; it is not your distinction to determine the main event. It is mine, I won the Royal Rumble!” Cody Rhodes boldly declared.

“Rock, we had a wonderful conversation, I had many conversations, I have made my decision: at WrestleMania 40, in the main event, I choose you, Roman Reigns!”

Welp, there you go, folks; though the segment didn't exactly make it clear, with Paul “Triple H” Levesque having to clarify it on Twitter when the show came to an end, fans are getting what they want: a Reigns-Rhodes II on Night 2 of WrestleMania 40. Was this the plan all along? Yes, most likely it was, with the last week and change serving as a weird bait and switch to keep fans talking about anything other than the Vince McMahon allegations, but what did interestingly come out of the show was what happened after, as it presents a very interesting opportunity that should make for an even better show all around.

Roman Reigns and The Rock may have plans for Cody Rhodes after all.

Angered by the idea of Cody Rhodes shooting his shot mere moments after announcing that he wanted The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania 40, Roman Reigns fired back at the “American Nightmare in a major way, suggesting that he's as irrelevant as the “American Dream” in 2024.

“You must be crazy. You must be stupid or something, huh?” Roman Reigns asked. “This is a done deal; you're old news. Go play with the number twos, the numbers two table will have you now. Loser bracket, right there with the dummy in green. Just go, leave, you're embarrassing yourself now. Last year was your year, that was your moment, you're only a chapter in my book. Nobody cares about your story, nobody cares about you ‘finishing the story,' you're embarrassing your entire family now. Just understand this: you're irrelevant, just like your dad.”

Equal parts amused and angered by the evocation of his late, great father, Rhodes took a massive shot at the entire Bloodline, accusing the pot of calling the kettle black when the Fatu-Anoa'i family doesn't have their own shop in order.

“Here you are talking about family, is that what The Bloodline is?” Cody Rhodes responded. “Let me ask you a question: how's Jey? It's not a family; you're a meal ticket, and they are nothing but lackeys, but yes, men. They're goons! And what is this match all about right here? Who sits at the head of the table? What does it matter when neither of you have been doing the cooking for two years? Earlier, we had that family tree up there, and you've invoked my family before, so let me go ahead and do the same: if your grandfather was here, if the high chief, his grandfather was here, they'd be ashamed of you.”

This, for some reason, really angered The Rock, who put on a mean face and approached his one-time confidant to tell him what happens to people who talk trash about his family.

“Let me make something perfectly clear to you: when you talk about his family, you're talking about my family,” The Rock announced. “When you're talking about his ancestors, you're talking about my ancestors. And when you're talking about his blood, you're talking about my blood. So now, we have a problem.”

After slapping Rhodes in the face, a move that got fans in Las Vegas incredibly excited in the moment, Rock and Reigns left the venue together – but not before having a profanity-ladened backstage altercation with Triple H – as a unified front, seemingly suggesting that Rock has officially become a member of The Bloodline. This development could lead to a tag team match at WrestleMania 40 on Night 1, which could theoretically lead to a Rhodes-Rollins win due to some disconnection between Reigns and Rock, “The Great One” evening the odds for the “American Nightmare” in the main event of Night 2 on the way to an Undisputed WWE Universal Championship change, and a main event match at WrestleMania 41 between the two Bloodline members, with a full year for everyone to get in shape for what could actually be the biggest main event match of all time. All things considered, a pretty solid silver lining to an otherwise bizarre saga, as it seemingly makes everyone happy and has the highest potential for quality in-ring action.