Fans and Kevin Owens were confused after Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Cody Rhodes‘ exchange on WWE Monday Night RAW's premiere on Netflix.
The two embraced during The Rock's show-opening promo despite their heated feud going into WrestleMania XL Afterward, they even shared a drink. Owens did not let this slide when confronting Rhodes and the Wiseman Paul Heyman during the January 10, 2025, episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
“I would like to talk about just when I thought you couldn't get worse, Cody, just when I thought it couldn't get worse than you teaming with Roman Reigns at Bad Blood, it actually does get worse. Because on Monday Night RAW, you go and shake hands with The Rock,” Owens said. “Why? Because he kissed your ass and rubbed your ego the right way?
“And now you shake hands with Paul Heyman, and what happens? 30 seconds after you shake his hand, he looks at you in the eyes and says, ‘Roman Reigns wants his title back.' You did that to yourself! You have left the Bloodline to rip Roman Reigns to shreds. But instead, no, you chose to help him, and now look what happens. Forget betraying my friendship, [if] you let Roman Reigns, you're hurting the entire company,” he continued.
It's clear that Owens is still hurt by Rhodes' recent actions with the Bloodline. After defeating Reigns at WrestleMania XL, he has teamed with him and seemingly become allies with the Tribal Chief.
During the RAW on Netflix premiere, Rhodes saved the Tribal Chief from Owens during the match between Reigns and Solo Sikoa. He took Owens out of the equation for Reigns. Rhodes and Owens will settle their beef at the Royal Rumble on February 1 in a ladder match.
Why WWE's Kevin Owens is upset with Cody Rhodes' moment with The Rock

The reason Owens is upset with Rhodes is because he helped him take out the Bloodline. And now, Rhodes seems to be buddies with the Bloodline.
Dating back to WrestleMania 39, Owens had been helping Rhodes dethrone Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship. This was because of Owens' disdain for the faction. He had several matches against Reigns for the championship during his lengthy run on top.
After Rhodes finally dethroned Reigns, he began helping out the OG Bloodline members. Reigns returned at SummerSlam in August 2024 to take out Sikoa, helping Rhodes retain the Undisputed WWE Championship in the process.
They then teamed up at Bad Blood to face Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. Since then, Rhodes has continued to be an ally of sorts for the Original Tribal Chief.
Owens and Rhodes are now embroiled in a heated feud. It started at Bash in Berlin after Rhodes gave Owens a title match as a reward for his friendship. This slowly started Owens' heel turn, which has continued into the new year.
They had a second match at Saturday Night's Main Event in December 2024. Rhodes won, but Owens stole the Winged Eagle Championship belt.