What is Cody Rhodes 'story' and why is he, not the Rock, headlining WrestleMania 40's final night?

It was the WrestleMania main event the WWE had been teasing for nearly a decade. Finally, The Rock would return to the squared circle to take on his cousin, the overpowered Roman Reigns. And after more than three years of dominance, Reign would finally be derailed not by another grappler but by wrestling’s demi-god.

It made sense. And fans hated it.

The problem wasn’t merely the return of a 51-year-old who hadn’t wrestled more than six seconds in the past decade. It was that he was taking the place reserved for a man who’d spent that decade earning his WrestleMania moment.

Cody Rhodes came into the WWE in 2006 with a legacy premade for him. His father was Dusty Rhodes, the NWA star and legendary “son of a plumber” everyman who captivated audiences as one of the biggest stars of the 1970s and 1980s. His half brother was Dustin Rhodes, who’d managed to stay relevant while wrestling in five separate decades. All he had to do was follow in their footsteps.

He did. He was the latest Rhodes to be miscast by a company that held a grudge against Dusty, a notable holdout when Vince McMahon, the disgraced former head of WWE who turned the brand into a monolith, was snapping up regional promotions to create a national juggernaut. When Dusty came to the then-WWF, he was put in polka dots and forced to dance in the middle of the ring. When Dustin, once known as “The Natural” in WCW joined the company he became the androgynous, Hollywood-obsessed sex pest Goldust.

Each man got their gimmicks over better than anyone could have expected and connected with their respective crowds. Still, the path was set.Rhodes meandered through a handful of personas in a decade-long run with the company. “Dashing” Cody Rhodes, “Undashing” Cody Rhodes, the Rhodes Scholars and Stardust all worked to varying degrees, but it was clear the son of a son of a plumber was viewed as nothing more than a reliable mid-card presence. He wasn’t a superstar. He wasn’t world champion material.

So Rhodes left. He requested and was granted his release. He made a checklist of the biggest names he wanted to face outside WWE and set upon facing them, appearing in Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Evolve and more to deliver banger after banger.

When longtime wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer commented that he didn’t believe anyone outside of McMahon could fill an arena with more than 10,000 fans in the United States, Rhodes took it personally. He teamed with Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks — savants in the ring who’d also been spurned by the WWE, albeit at the developmental level — to create All-In, an independent wrestling supershow where Rhodes won his dad’s old NWA title from Nick Aldis.

This led to the creation of All Elite Wrestling, where Rhodes, Omega and the Bucks served as executive vice presidents of the WWE’s biggest competition since WCW in the 1990s. Rhodes was both a star and a bit unhinged in his new company, promising spectacle and over-delivering in some cases — like the time he lit himself on fire in a (extremely good) match with Andrade on a random Wednesday night instead of a pay-per-view.

Rhodes hit a ceiling in AEW. It was one of his own making. He’d booked himself into a stipulation where he could never challenge for the world championship, leaving him stuck in mid-card feuds and fighting for secondary titles. This, combined with some wheel-spinning promos and the inability to evolve a character stuck between worlds — he wanted so badly to be a good guy but still managed to cast of sinister vibes, never quite acknowledging or grasping it — left Rhodes with a higher profile but the same problem he’d faced in WWE.

There was one way to blast through that limit and grasp his stardom. His AEW contract expired and he left the company he founded to return to the place he started. This time, Rhodes was a big deal. His entrance turned into a sea of delirious fans screaming a song that works wonderfully as a wrestling theme and nowhere else. He won the 2023 Royal Rumble. The stage for his ascension was set.

Then he lost to Roman Reigns via shenanigans. His satisfaction was deferred. His ascension — the long path to a title his father carved five decades ago — had to wait.

Another Royal Rumble win seemed to uncover his destiny. He’d win the WWE undisputed title at WrestleMania XL, the headliner atop one of the biggest events in wrestling history.

And then The Rock showed up and Rhodes was forced to give up his spot like a dork.

This led to revolt. Reports swirled that Rhodes was unhappy. The fans undeniably were. The WWE heard it at live events and online. The Rock’s triumphant return as a smiling, sarcastic badass wasn’t getting the reaction anyone had hoped. WrestleMania was meant to be Rhodes’ crowning moment, his chance to finish his story — not the return of a Hollywood star who’d had one throwaway match since 2013.

It got bad enough that the WWE pivoted. Rock leaned into the hate, turning into a despicable final boss for Rhodes to overcome and turning his headlining spot into a tag team match on night one that will determine the stipulation of Rhodes and Reigns’ show-closing bout on night two. The Rock still gets to play a major role, but this is Rhodes’ show.

Now, fans wait and see if his validation is finally here or if the WWE opts to yank the Rhodes family around for at least one more year.