Cody Rhodes to be forced to leave by Nick Aldis; new Bloodline's purpose revealed? 5 Ways The Rock can make his presence felt on WWE SmackDown tonight

The Rock had a backup plan at Elimination Chamber: Toronto after Cody Rhodes turned down the offer to become his corporate champion. John Cena turned heel for the first time in more than 20 years, attacking the Undisputed WWE Champion until he was bruised, bloodied, and brutalized.

Rhodes is set to address what happened last Saturday in tonight's episode of SmackDown live from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It's going to be an emotional night for The American Nightmare considering he finished his story there last year at WrestleMania 40.

However, The Rock could always make his presence felt and continue to make things hard for Rhodes. Let's look at the five ways The Final Boss can affect this Friday's episode of SmackDown.

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#5. Putting Cody Rhodes in a match

The Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. [Image: wwe.com]

Quite possibly the least feasible outcome since Cody Rhodes is already advertised to appear, but it makes sense for The Rock to continue punishing him. Rhodes turned him down and strongly rejected his offer at Elimination Chamber.

The beating Rhodes took might just be the start of a hellacious Road to WrestleMania 41. The Final Boss could be inclined to soften him up as much as possible to be easy pickings for the heel John Cena in Las Vegas.

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#4. Sending The Bloodline to attack Cody Rhodes

Jacob Fatu (Photo: WWE.com)

The Bloodline might be having internal problems, but this scenario opens up a lot of doors in the future. Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu obeying orders from The Final Boss could lead to a potential feud with Roman Reigns down the line.

The trio has always had an issue with Cody Rhodes, so an attack from them won't be surprising from a storyline continuity standpoint. Sikoa or Fatu saying something like, "The Rock and John Cena send their regards" will surely make the crowd and people online go crazy.

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#3. Removing Cody Rhodes' privileges

The Final Boss making Cody Rhodes pay. (Photo: WWE.com)

Before The American Nightmare turned down The Rock's offer, Cody Rhodes received plenty of incredible things to persuade him to accept. While he still has his own locker room and his bus, one way to make things more difficult for the Undisputed WWE Champion would be to remove whatever privileges he has.

Nick Aldis or even Triple H won't have a say in it, especially if The Final Boss uses his position as a member of TKO's Board of Directors to make Cody's life more miserable. Fans are already feeling sorry for Rhodes ahead of WrestleMania, so it makes sense for him to get more sympathy moving forward.

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#2. Instructing Nick Aldis to send Cody Rhodes home

Nick Aldis' hands might be tied when it comes to The Rock. (Photo: WWE.com)

While fans are waiting for The Rock and John Cena to address what happened at Elimination Chamber, they are not set to appear on WWE television until later this month. That means people are going to look at Cody Rhodes for his reaction to the blatant betrayal by his WrestleMania 41 opponent.

But to get more heat for The Final Boss, he could instruct Nick Aldis to send Rhodes home. Aldis can say that he's not medically cleared to be on SmackDown, so for his own safety, he might be sent home and not allowed to return until he gets the green light from WWE's medical team.

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#1. Interrupting Cody Rhodes via live feed or recorded video

The Final Boss. (Photo: WWE.com)

The most likely scenario is for The Rock to interrupt Cody Rhodes' segment while he's reacting to the John Cena heel turn. Due to his schedule, it might be impossible for Rocky to appear again on television before WrestleMania 41. His presence, whether live or not, is needed to further build the story on the Road to WrestleMania.

WWE could do it via live feed or a recorded video, with Rhodes going back and forth with The Final Boss. It gives an old-school feel to the storyline, especially with Cena being a bad guy for the first time since 2003.