The Rock was the talk of the WWE Universe after the WrestleMania XL Kickoff event in Las Vegas on Thursday. Wrestling legend Eric Bischoff enjoyed the twists and turns in the closing segment, but he felt Roman Reigns could have played a more prominent role.
Fans initially thought Reigns was going to face The Rock at WrestleMania XL before Cody Rhodes chose to go one-on-one with The Tribal Chief instead. Rhodes also told Reigns and The Rock that their grandfathers would be ashamed of them, prompting the latter to slap The American Nightmare.
On his 83 Weeks YouTube channel, WWE Hall of Famer Bischoff questioned whether the buzz around The Rock took anything away from Reigns:
"Yep," Bischoff said, agreeing that Reigns was "second fiddle" to his cousin. "He did get lost in the shadow. There's no question about it. I don't know how that he wouldn't in this scenario given everything that has led up to this press conference. What we saw on Friday [Cody Rhodes stepping aside for The Rock], what we saw on Monday [fans turning against The Rock], the awkwardness of all of that." [14:29 – 14:46]
Bischoff also addressed whether he thinks The Rock is now a bad guy following his WrestleMania XL Kickoff appearance.
Eric Bischoff reacts to the WrestleMania XL announcement
Cody Rhodes is set to challenge Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns for the second successive WrestleMania.
Following the press event, Eric Bischoff believes Reigns vs. Rhodes is an even bigger match than it was before:
"I think they made some great calculations. I'll go back to what I said earlier on 83 Weeks, I think this is gonna turn out absolutely fantastic for Cody. Better than originally planned." [15:01 – 15:14]
WrestleMania XL will take place on April 6-7 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. WWE has not yet announced whether Reigns vs. Rhodes will occur on the first or second night of the event. The Rock's WrestleMania role is also still to be determined.
What do you expect to see from Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit 83 Weeks and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.