Cody Rhodes Shares Personal Take on a Final Showdown With The Rock

The rivalry that Cody Rhodes and The Rock have forged over the past few years is in dire need of a definitive conclusion, but it's still up in the air whether fans will ever see The American Nightmare and The Final Boss meet one-on-one in a WWE ring.

Future WWE Hall of Famer Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is on a very short list of men who have pinned Cody Rhodes ever since he returned to WWE in the spring of 2022, doing so in the main event of night one of WrestleMania XL.

That loss forced Rhodes to challenge Roman Reigns in a Bloodline Rules Match for the Undisputed WWE Championship the following night, where Cody famously overcame the odds to finish his story and end The OTC's nearly four-year title run.

The following year, The Final Boss returned for Rhodes' soul, but when he refused to align himself with The Rock, and the soon-to-be retired John Cena sold out instead in an effort to procure his record-breaking 17th World Championship.

The heel turn that shocked the world took place at Elimination Chamber in March 2025, with The Rock, Cena and rapper Travis Scott all conglomerating on a post-main event beatdown of The American Nightmare.

Cena would go on to defeat Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41, a major moment in his controversial retirement tour, but The Rock has not been seen on WWE programming since that night when Cody refused to sell his soul in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Will The Rock ever return to finish his story with Cody Rhodes?

Cody Rhodes was a guest on Insight with Chris Van Vliet on Thursday as part of his promotional tour for Street Fighter's theatrical release.

Van Vliet asked Cody whether he thought The Rock would ever return for a final one-on-one showdown, and Rhodes could not give a definitive response.

“It’s not that I’m evading that answer. It’s that I don’t really know how to answer, because I think personally, he has a couple of matches probably left to do. I think that personally, but I also know looking at WrestleMania XL... He could easily say that was a great final piece as a performer in a wrestling ring. That’ll be up to him,” Rhodes said.

“That’ll certainly be up to him if there’s more and what those matches might be. I don’t think any wrestler would ever look you in the eye and tell you they wouldn’t want a match like that.”

Rhodes also told CVV that he recently signed his last contract in professional wrestling, but that he still has six or seven years left before he'll leave his boots in the ring.

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