8-time WWE Champion's "selfish" revelation diminishes Cody Rhodes main event, says Hall of Famer

Cody Rhodes spent an entire decade in WWE before realizing that there was no way he would rise to main event status if he remained with the company, per the WrestleMania 39 headliner himself.

On September 15, The Rock shocked the wrestling world when he returned to Friday Night SmackDown. The Attitude Era star even sat down with Pat McAfee on the latter's show to discuss on a variety of topics, one of them being the revelation that he was originally "locked" to face Roman Reigns on The Grandest Stage Of Them All.

David LaGreca of Busted Open Radio was affronted by The Rock's comments, and Mark Henry weighed in on it. The Hall of Famer felt that while The Brahma Bull was not disrespectful, he was "a little selfish" for implying that Cody Rhodes closing out the Show of Shows opposite Roman Reigns was Plan B.

"I disagree with the fact that he [The Rock] was disrespectful. But I do agree that it was a little selfish. Like, sometimes you got to keep some stuff to yourself. Because, Cody [Rhodes] is on the trajectory of being the face of pro-wrestling, and that basically said that, it fell through. 'It was a lock', his words, not mine. 'It was a lock. We were doing it.' Whatever happened, it fell through. So that was a contingency plan," Mark Henry stated. [7:57-8:45]

WrestleMania 39 was a massive success in terms of box office returns. Fans still believe The American Nightmare should have dethroned The Tribal Chief, with WrestleMania 40 being the ideal location for it to happen.

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The Rock says WrestleMania 40 could feature a blockbuster WWE main event

For months prior to the Royal Rumble 2023, the wrestling world was hoping to see The People's Champion return to WWE to issue a challenge to Roman Reigns. However, in the wake of The Rock's unavailability, Cody Rhodes stepped up and ran with the ball. Today, he stands as one of the biggest babyface stars of the modern era.

It seems that WWE could however still book Roman Reigns vs. The Rock for WrestleMania 40, should the Hollywood star return for the clash. The latter teased that the potentially once-in-a-lifetime match is still a possibility on The Pat McAfee Show.

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Which match do you prefer for WrestleMania 40's main event if WWE could book either one? Sound off in the comments section below.

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If you use the quote in this article, please give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription and credit Busted Open Radio.