Remember when The Rock's mother helped Cody Rhodes during a WWE match?

Cody Rhodes and The Rock have engaged in a war of words recently, especially after The American Nightmare won the Royal Rumble and made the decision to challenge Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 40. It initially looked like The Rock would challenge Reigns at April's blockbuster event, but the company decided to go in a different direction.

Things were not always so heated between the WWE legend and The American Nightmare, as The Rock's mother had once helped Cody Rhodes during a Monday Night RAW match. Rhodes recalled this incident during his promo on the latest episode of Monday Night RAW.

It was back in April 2022 when Rhodes returned to WWE after six years and competed at Wrestlemania 38 against Seth Rollins. A few days later, he made his in-ring return on Monday Night RAW and took on Kevin Owens in a dark match after the show went off the air. Owens was close to the barricade and The Rock's mother, Ata Johnson, held KO from behind and Cody Rhodes punched him before hugging Johnson to thank her for the assist.

The incident was widely cheered by those in attendance, and The American Nightmare's latest promo is a reminder of how the equation has changed siince The Brahma Bull's return. The Rock recently brought up Rhodes' mother during a promo on SmackDowm and stated that he would gift her a bloodied belt after whipping The American Nightmare at 'Mania.

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Cody Rhodes appears to be more focused on The Rock than Roman Reigns

Cody Rhodes will face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship for the second year in a row at WrestleMania 40. He hopes things will be different this year and he will be able to finish his story.

However, at the moment, it appears that The American Nightmare is more focused on The Rock than The Tribal Chief and his promos aim at the WWE Hall of Famer. This could have become a distraction for him, as we are heading into WrestleMania 40.

Former WWE head writer Vince Russo also commented on the matter during Sportskeeda's Legion on RAW show.

"I'm listening to him, and I'm saying to myself, first of all, here's my first question. Who are you wrestling at WrestleMania? The Rock or Roman Reigns? Because the way he's cutting this promo, The Rock has already gotten in his head. You've forgotten all about Roman Reigns. Not a tag match, bro. The match against Roman Reigns, you waited a year for this. You're not talking about Roman Reigns at all."

Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns will face off on the March 22 episode of Friday Night SmackDown. On Night One of WrestleMania 40, The American Nightmare will team up with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins to take on Roman Reigns and The Rock. The outcome of this match will determine the stipulation for the Rhodes versus Reigns match on Night Two.