3 opponents for Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40 if The Rock returns to WWE

Cody Rhodes getting his rematch against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 next year seems like a given, yeah? Well, not so fast. It's possible there may be a... Rock thrown into the gears? (OK, we're sorry about that.)

Word on the street (and, more specifically, in the pages of The West Australian) is that the star of The Tooth Fairy and Race to Witch Mountain could return to action at Elimination Chamber in February.

Of course, if The Rock is coming back to perform in WWE again, it's not just going to be at - and no offense to Elimination Chamber - Elimination Chamber. No, he's going to want to headline the Show of Shows. The Showcase of the Immortals. The Biggest Thing to Hit Philadelphia Since Reggie White. WrestleMania 40.

And that means if The Great One comes back to 'Mania, it will no doubt be against current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Which then means that the American Nightmare is going to need a new opponent. Or two, maybe?

Here are three different options to get Cody Rhodes on the WrestleMania 40 card if The Brahma Bull came back to take on The Head of The Table.

---

#3. Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk vs Seth "Freakin'" Rollins

One of the other matches that everyone has been so sure will happen at WrestleMania 40 (and we're guilty of this, too, by the way) is CM Punk vs Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship. But, who's to say that certain changes can't be made?

Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk vs Seth "Freakin'" Rollins headlining Night One of the 40th WrestleMania would, in fact, be keeping with tradition. Every tenth Showcase of the Immortals has had a triple threat (of sorts) for a World Championship.

WrestleMania X had both Lex Luger and Bret Hart vying for Yokozuna's WWE Championship (albeit in separate matches). Ten years later, we had Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship. At WrestleMania XXX, Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton and Batista to win both the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship.

So, a Punk/Rhodes/Rollins championship triple threat would just be keeping that train rolling.

---

#2. Cody Rhodes vs Shinsuke Nakamura

It would feel kind of odd to not have Cody Rhodes in a WrestleMania main event after headlining the previous year. I mean, it's not like he's The Miz or something. But, if has to get bumped from the main event by The Rock (something CM Punk knows a thing or two about), Shinsuke Nakamura is a pretty awesome alternative.

For starters, let's look at his match with AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34 for the WWE Championship. Considering this was a rematch of sorts from their legendary bout at WrestleKingdom 10, there was a lot of hype going into that match. If WWE had been doing to Two Nights of WrestleMania thing back in 2018, this would have certainly headlined Night One.

So, in a sense, Rhodes vs Nakamura would be a match between two former 'Mania Main Eventers... in a sense.

On top of that, their current feud on RAW is actually pretty intense right now, and it certainly has the legs to take it all the way to Philly.

---

#1. Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk

Unless you have a time machine and there's something you're not telling us, there's nothing that says that either Rhodes or Punk have to win the Rumble match next month. So, if neither the American Nightmare nor the Voice of the Voiceless have world title matches at WrestleMania, who do they fight?

Might as fight each other, we suppose.

Unless something serious happens with either man (which, we should add, is not out of the realm of possibility), there's a good chance they've got a couple more WrestleManias after this one.

Hell, a match between these two, if hyped up right, could even main-event WrestleMania Night One. Granted, that's pretty unlikely, but that is the kind of star power we're talking about here.

Then again, everything may just go as "planned" anyway, and we'll get the matches we've all been expecting. But, that's the beauty of wrestling - things can always go in directions you least expect and you should never say never.