JBL on The Rock-Cody Rhodes Segment: "It Was Likely Meant to Be Strange"

During Friday night's episode of WWE SmackDown, The Rock made his presence felt in a dramatic and intense in-ring segment featuring Cody Rhodes. The Hollywood megastar and WWE legend personally called Rhodes to the ring, expressing his desire to see him ascend to the position of Undisputed WWE Champion. However, in a cryptic and somewhat ominous remark, The Rock stated that he also wanted "a piece of Rhodes’ soul."

The segment left fans speculating about what exactly The Rock meant by his words, as he did not provide further clarification. Instead, he made it clear that he expected an answer from Rhodes at the upcoming Elimination Chamber premium live event on March 1st.

Following the show, The Rock participated in a post-SmackDown press conference, where he was asked about the nature of his segment with Cody Rhodes. Surprisingly, he noted that the direction of this storyline does not necessarily need to culminate in a match. His comments fueled further debate about what WWE’s long-term plans might be for this developing narrative.

During an episode of Something To Wrestle, WWE Hall of Famer Bruce Prichard weighed in on The Rock’s segment with Cody Rhodes. He admitted that while he found the moment strange, he believes that might have been intentional.

“I did. I thought it was strange, and I thought it was probably supposed to be strange. Sometimes, you do stuff that you don’t have a finish to. That’s why you call it episodic television, and I thought that’s what that was. I have no idea what ‘I’m gonna take your soul’ [meant]. I don’t think anybody else does. I thought it was incredibly well done. It looked uncomfortable, and I think that’s how it was supposed to look.”

Prichard further emphasized that regardless of any confusion surrounding The Rock’s words, his return is a major boost to WWE programming. He addressed the criticism that often arises when legendary names make comebacks, using past examples such as Ultimate Warrior, Sid, and Hulk Hogan.

“By the way, you got the biggest movie star in the last 20 years coming back to WWE. There’s no downside to this. A lot of people have always gotten mad about guys coming back, mad about the Warrior coming back, about Sid coming back, about Hogan coming back, about The Rock coming back. Look, if you’re big enough, you don’t need ‘em. But there ain’t nobody bigger than that man, and so it’s always great to see someone like that come back because it really does help the show.”

With The Rock’s words still lingering in the air, all eyes now turn to Elimination Chamber on March 1st, where fans will finally get Cody Rhodes' response. Will this confrontation lead to an official match between the two, or is WWE setting the stage for a different twist in Rhodes’ journey toward championship glory?