Ahead of Elimination Chamber, The Rock tried to convince Cody Rhodes to sell his soul. Cody declined The Rock’s offer and John Cena turned heel after he won the men’s Elimination Chamber match. John Cena, The Rock and Travis Scott proceeded to beat Cody down as the show went off the air which led to a lot of speculation regarding the direction of the storyline. Ultimately The Rock did not get involved in Cena’s storyline with Cody following Elimination Chamber, and he also stayed out of their big title match at WrestleMania.
The Rock appeared on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday and explained why he showed up at Elimination Chamber, but not WrestleMania. He said that he got a call from Ari Emanuel who told him that ticket sales for Elimination Chamber were slow, and he asked if the Final Boss would show up. Rock then got back to Ari, Triple H and Nick Khan and presented the idea of the Final Boss trying to get Cody to sell his soul.
The Rock claimed that he was using it as a “litmus test” to see how the fans would react to Cody selling his soul. He also noted that he’s an advocate of Cody turning heel at some point down the line. According to The Rock, Triple H presented the idea of John Cena turning heel, and Rock decided that the Final Boss wasn’t needed because he wanted the spotlight to be on John Cena and Cody.
“As we got closer to Elimination Chamber, we were kicking ideas around, myself and Triple H, Nick, my team. Triple H said, ‘What about John turning?’ I said, ‘I love it.’ The next question is talking to John and see how he feels about it. John loved the idea of turning heel, but he said there is an anchor that he was going to root it in, which was a real thing he’s experienced over the past 25 years. When we were moving forward with John and this idea that we would crown him at 17 and being a heel champion, I knew then, the best thing for the Final Boss, we’ve established this idea of Cody’s soul, we can always come back to it. I did feel, and I made the call, ‘I don’t want to be involved in that. Let the Final Boss step back into the shadows. Let all the spotlight go to John and Cody. Let’s not make it about Cody’s soul or John’s soul. Let’s let them do what they do.’ I called John after Elimination Chamber, called Cody, and I said, ‘I think the Final Boss’ work is done. We’ve established it. We just pulled off the greatest angle i the history of professional wrestling,’ other than Hulk Hogan turning heel. We have six weeks, now let’s build. You guys go and crush it. I’ll be right there with you and I’m always here if you need me, but I think it’s best for the Final Boss not to be involved in that finish.”
“They had six weeks to plan for that. I loved the finish of the match. I would have finessed things a little differently on how they got there, but that’s just me creatively. Ultimately, the bottom line is, I love John getting 17. I never had a concern about John pulling this off. My thoughts were always to Cody and what we’ve established with him and his story, and the kind of babyface that he is. If done right, finessed right, and nuanced right, down the road, that guy not only has an incredible run, against, as babyface champion, but also an unheard of run as a heel down the road.”
When Pat McAfee asked The Rock if there was a conversation about him appearing during the match Rock said, “No, they don’t have to say anything like that to me. They know, when I come to them and lay this out, ‘Here’s how I feel it should go. We can insert Final Boss into the end of this finish, but then where do we go?’ There are other commitments that I have and I want to be careful that we’re not overstepping. I can get involved in the finish, but why get involved in the finish when the spotlight should just be on John, 17, heel champion? What does 2025 look like if this man is saying he’s going to ruin pro wrestling? That, to me, is the anchoring storyline. It’s not soul….right now it’s not, but we’ll go back to it. I was surprised to see Travis Scott as well, and the moment I saw Travis, it immediately amplified, ‘Here comes the Final Boss.’ They were waiting. I love John Cena, heel champion, the GOAT says he’s going to ruin wrestling. Some parts of it, I would have just adjusted.”
H/T Fightful