One night before he is scheduled to give a response to The Rock, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will appear on tonight’s SmackDown from Toronto.
The Rock told Cody last week that he wants his soul and wants Cody to be his champion. Cody will give Rock his answer at Saturday night’s Elimination Chamber PLE, and tonight we’ll hear Cody’s final remarks before he makes that decision.
A United States title match between Shinsuke Nakamura and LA Knight was supposed to go down tonight, but there will instead be a mini-tournament to decide a definitive number one contender to Nakamura’s title. Knight vs. Santos Escobar, Carmelo Hayes vs. Braun Strowman, and Andrade vs. Solo Sikoa will all happen tonight with the winners advancing to a triple threat later in the show to determine Nakamura’s next challenger.
Trish Stratus is set to make an appearance in advance of teaming with Tiffany Stratton against Nia Jax & Candice LeRae at Elimination Chamber.
Finally, Women’s United States Champion Chelsea Green will be in action against a mystery opponent.
Join us for live coverage starting at 8 p.m. Eastern time.
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– Joe Tessitore welcomed everyone into the show as scenes from Toronto aired. A video recapping last week’s Rock appearance followed that.
– Cody was shown walking backstage and a couple dudes came up to guide Cody to his new locker room “courtesy of the Final Boss.” Trish Stratus was then introduced and Stratus made her way to the ring.
The Trish Stratus segment
This was fun, and it was nice to see Trish get her flowers in her home country. Stratton continues to come off as weirdly uncomfortable in a babyface role – almost as if she really, really, really doesn’t want to work as a face, but she’s trying because that’s the direction in which they are going … but she’d just rather … well … not. Pairing her with Stratus was a good idea in terms of moving that transition a step forward and throwing them out there on a SmackDown in Toronto couldn’t and didn’t hurt. Green, meanwhile, is straight box office, no matter what she does. Heeling on the crowd with the Matthews jab was perfect. There just aren’t a lot of wrestlers anywhere who can walk out to deafening cheers and get those cheers to become boos in a matter of seconds, but Chelsea never disappoints. Green is one of the best in the world these days, full stop.
“Thank you, Trish!” chants broke out as she stood in the middle of the ring. Stratus appeared to get emotional and the crowd cheered her, complete with another round of “Thank you, Trish!” chants. Stratus thanked Lilian Garcia for introducing her and asked the crowd what year it was considering how she was back, the Rock was back and Garcia was introducing her. Stratus pointed out a little girl in the crowd and said that her dad probably had a poster of Stratus on his wall. The line got some laughs.
Stratus noted how Saturday night will be the first time her kids will see her wrestle live. Stratus said she was beyond excited to be teaming up with Tiffany Stratton and that in mind, Stratus introduced Stratton, who then made her entrance to a loud ovation. Stratton was wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey. Stratus set them up to say, “It’s Trishy Time and it’s Tiffy Time!” Stratus and Stratton removed their Maple Leafs jerseys, kissed them and threw them into the crowd. Stratton said they were going to beat Jax and LeRae tomorrow. Chelsea Green’s music then hit and Green walked out.
Green said, “Nobody wants dumb and dumber hogging the air time,” and loud “Chelsea!” chants broke out. Green said she’s the best thing to step in the arena tonight. She also took a shot at Auston Matthews. Green said once she left Canada, everything got better for her because the people are better in America. Stratton said she’s from America, and Green doesn’t represent her as a U.S. title. Stratton challenged Green to a match tonight, but Green said she couldn’t because she had plans. Nick Aldis sent a referee to the ring and the match was set to kick off.
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Tiffany Stratton defeated Chelsea Green via DQ [3:12 of TV time]
Not much to this. Just an angle to further the story of tomorrow’s tag match involving Stratus and Stratton. It’s a shame, too, because I would have loved at least five more minutes of Green and Stratton in a straight up singles match. It was not to be on this night. I hope Stratton is OK. Jax and LeRae didn’t catch her during that flip dive to the outside and Stratton came up favoring her arm. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.
The match was joined in progress and Stratton quickly gained the upper hand. Stratton landed her gymnastics flip routine splash in a corner and went for a double stomp, but Green moved and came back with a leaping leg drop for a two-count. Stratton came right back with a tough double stomp and set up for the Prettiest Moonsault Ever, but Piper Niven pulled Green to the outside. Stratton then hit a dive onto NIven and Green on the outside and Stratton landed hard. Nia Jax and Candice LeRae then showed up and attacked Stratus and Stratton to end the match.
Jax set up for her finisher on Tiffy, but Stratus interfered and saved the day. Stratton set up for her moonsault on LeRae, but Jax pulled LeRae out of the ring to safety. Jax and LeRae backed up the entranceway.
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– Solo Sikoa was walking backstage and ran into Jacob Fatu, who said what happened last week was an accident. Sikoa said what happened last week made him realize his family needs to make a statement. Sikoa said he wants Fatu to bring home the U.S. title to their family. Sikoa said everything he’s doing is to show Fatu how much he loves Fatu.
– Cody was shown in his fancy locker room and there was fancy food and fancy wine and a bunch of fanciness … including R-Truth, who popped up and said maybe Cody should think about teaming with The Rock. Truth told Cody not to be “shell fish,” and Cody invited Truth to eat more. Truth also asked for Cody to ask Rock for some jelly rolls.
Jacob Fatu defeated Andrade to advance in the U.S. title No. 1 contender tournament [8:21]
This might end up being the best match of the night after all is said and done. Andrade is so good. So, so good, and they really don’t use him all that much, which is wild considering how we now have 83-hour episodes of SmackDown each week. Jacob Fatu, for his part, is Jacob Fatu, and boy, these live crowds continue to shower him with more love each week. You have to wonder if that type of crowd support will alter WWE’s plans for him as a heel. Either way, this match had a ton of energy, some really tough-hitting spots and an outcome that might have felt predictable, but never suffered because of it. Really good work from both guys.
Loud “Fatu!” cheers came from the crowd to begin the match. Fatu shoulder-blocked Andrade to the canvas. Fatu went for a splash, but Andrade moved and eventually went to the top, where he connected with a cross-body. The action spilled to the outside and Andrade hit a moonsault onto Fatu as the show went to a commercial break.
The show returned and Fatu was the victim of a poison-rana to reset the match as both guys were down. They got to their feet and Andrade hit a series of clotheslines and a flying forearm. Andrade set up for a double-knees, but Fatu threw his body at Andrade and took him out. “Fatu!” chants began. Fatu went for a hip attack, but Andrade moved and kicked Fatu in the head. Andrade finally did connect with the running double-knees. He followed that up with the double moonsault spot for a nice near-fall. “This is awesome!” chants broke out.
Andrade set up for his finisher, but Fatu countered and sat on Andrade. Fatu followed that up with a pair of hip attacks and an Impaler DDT. Fatu hit his jump-up moonsault after that and got the win, much to the delight of the live crowd.
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– Footage from earlier today aired where the Street Profits spoke with Nick Aldis and the Profits said they won’t stop what they are doing until they get a tag title shot. Legado Del Fantasma showed up and Santos Escobar wanted an apology for falsely accusing them of attacking the Profits. Dawkins said they won’t apologize for anything. Aldis made the Profits vs. Los Garza match for later in the night.
– The Street Profits were making their entrance for their match and Gargano and Ciampa ran out to attack them. Los Garza got in on things and the Profits bounced back and stomped mud holes in #DIY. Pretty Deadly ran out and attacked the Profits. Gargano and Ciampa came back to life and attacked Pretty Deadly. Motor City Machine Guns ran out and they worked over Gargano and Ciampa. MCMG and the Profits faced off in the ring, but Los Garza and Pretty Deadly cut both teams off and it was bedlam. Eventually, MCMG and the Profits got their hands on each other, but only briefly. WWE officials weirdly stood around, not doing much to intervene for a very long time … until they did. Even so, various brawls continued to break out until the show cut to Drew McIntyre walking backstage. Drew ran into Cody and said he doesn’t know what he’d do if he was in Cody’s position regarding the Rock. Drew told Cody that Rock will find out that Cody actually sold his soul a long time ago. Drew then walked away.
– A John Cena Elimination Chamber vignette aired. Drew McIntyre interrupted the vignette while walking through the live crowd. McIntyre made his way to the ring and called Cena a hypocrite. McIntyre stood on the commentary table and called out everyone for not talking about Cena over the past handful of weeks. McIntyre sat on the table in the way CM Punk sat during his pipe bomb promo.
The Drew McIntyre/Damian Priest/Seth Rollins/CM Punk/Logan Paul segment
You really have to feel for the fans who you know really wanted to see Cena pop up, but I’m a sucker for the “play someone else’s music” heel trick and I got a kick out of it here. It wasn’t as good as Kevin Owens punking everyone out with Stone Cold’s theme, but Paul’s arrival here did pack a punch. This felt needlessly long – not unlike last week’s Cody/Rock talking segment, which landed at the same spot in the show last week. Punk showed good fire, McIntyre did a great job leaning into what he wants people to perceive him as, Priest (kind of) held his own (but came off cooler than some others out there), Rollins still hates Punk and Paul worked an SNL Weekend Update segment with his one-liners that didn’t come nearly as close to landing as I’m sure whoever wrote them thought they would. It wasn’t a bad segment; it just could have actually used Cena to distract from its length and tie a bow on all of it.
McIntyre said Cena only returns for ego trips and he called Cena out for Cena’s bald spot. McIntyre talked about how Cena could politically end a career anytime he wants. McIntyre said he will bury Cena at the Elimination Chamber. McIntyre brought up a Toronto Screw Job and Damian Priest’s music hit. Priest walked into the ring and told McIntyre it was enough and McIntyre was delusional. McIntyre all he does is tell the truth and Priest said R-Truth tells more truth than McIntyre.
Priest talked about how because Drew had a weird obsession with Punk, Drew lost his WWE Championship. Priest called Drew out for looking like Punk in the way he sat and Drew said he drops the pipe bombs now. “CM Punk!” chants broke out. Drew stood up and Priest said he once dropped McIntyre in the arena they were in and he would do it again if Drew just stepped through the ropes. From there, Seth Rollins’s music hit and Seth walked out.
The crowd sang Rollins’s song as Rollins stepped into the ring. Rollins thanked Toronto and said he wanted to join the party as Priest and McIntyre were talking about Elimination Chamber. Rollins called McIntyre’s MITB cash-in the worst of all time and said it won’t be the same Seth Rollins that hobbled into WrestleMania last year. Rollins said nobody stands a chance against him in the Elimination Chamber match. Naturally, CM Punk’s music hit and out, Punk came.
Punk stood at ringside and said, “Is it great to be alive on a Friday in Toronto or what?!” Very loud “CM Punk!” chants broke out. Punk started with Rollins and told him he looked like an oven mitt. Punk said he has no personal issue with Priest, but Priest could be collateral damage in the Chamber. Punk said Drew and Seth are obsessed with him, but Punk is obsessed with having his WrestleMania main event. Punk said Drew doesn’t have a soul to sell while referencing the Rock/Cody stuff. Punk called out how Cena hasn’t shown up for dates on his retirement tour and God bless him for that.
Rollins said Punk will not main event Mania over his dead body. Drew said he owes Seth one and he owes Punk and Priest chimed in saying after the Chamber, all Drew will do is complain on the internet. Seth said all of Punk’s chants will die along with Punk’s Mania dreams. John Cena’s music then hit and instead of Cena, Logan Paul walked out to massive boos. Paul said John Cena doesn’t care about Canada as he stood in the entranceway.
Paul turned said Cena can’t show up because he’s a “classic celebrity wrestler,” which was kind of funny. Paul called out Punk and then went to Rollins, calling him the peacock of WWE. Paul said Rollins was wearing curtains. Paul went to Drew and said he can’t win a championship just like the Toronto Maple Leafs. Paul flat out called Priest irrelevant. Paul went back to Punk and talked about how he slapped Punk on Monday. Punk ran up and chased Paul away to end the segment.
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– Footage from the women fighting at the Chamber kickoff show aired to set up a six-woman tag match.
LA Knight defeated Santos Escobar to advance in the U.S. title No. 1 contender tournament [11:14]
I enjoyed the fact that this didn’t end up being the regular LA Knight match, which has really become a thing over the last few months. He kind of plays the hits, does what you expect, and hits the BFT for the win. Here, he took a top-rope Frankensteiner and the BFT came out of nowhere (which, all told, is something I’ve been waiting for, for a long time now. the BFT is so similar to the RKO, I’ve been wondering why they haven’t figured out a way to make the move pop up in a surprising way to end a match and they finally did it here). Escobar needs a shake up. He’s talented, but LDF just hasn’t clicked on the main roster and now that Elektra Lopez is gone, it might be an idea to see how everyone does in a singles setting. He got a lot of offense here, which was good, but he never felt like a threat to win.
Escobar and Knight traded control for the first two minutes. Knight went for his jump-up elbow-drop early, but Escobar moved and eventually found his way to the outside of the ring, where Knight went for his sliding dropkick, but Escobar moved and threw Knight into the ring steps. The show then went to a commercial break.
Back to the show, Escobar chopped Knight inside the ring. Knight came back with a slap of his own. The two traded blows until Escobar kicked Knight’s leg and followed that up with a headbutt. Knight came back with a leaping neck-breaker for a two-count. Escobar ran Knight’s head into the middle turnbuckle and worked on Knight’s arm. Knight fired up and slammed Escobar. Knight followed that up with an elbow and set up for a BFT, but Escobar countered and eventually tripped Knight.
Escobar placed Knight on the top and Escobar hit a Frankensteiner from the top rope for a near-fall. Escobar kicked Knight in the head a couple times and went to the top, and jumped at Knight, but Knight caught him for a BFT and got the win.
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The Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens segment
I want to have a lot of fire for this match, but it said a lot that these two sort of took the lazy way out in this go-home promo. To be fair, they both know they’ve already said and done it all with one another, so it will forever be hard to really get people to believe these two actually aren’t BFFs in real life, but this just felt boilerplate. The wrinkle that Owens spoke from the Chamber venue was a fine touch, but it ultimately meant nothing. I have no doubt that they’ll have a great match; there just isn’t much either could say to the other that would move the needle at this point.
Zayn took his time to speak and soaked in some cheers. Zayn said that it’d be an understatement to say he and Kevin Owens has been through a lot together. Zayn said he knows for a fact that Owens is in Toronto tonight and as such, he wanted to invite Owens into the ring to stand in front of all their countrymen and say his final peace. Owens’s voice popped up, but Owens was in the Rogers Centre, where the Chamber will be on Saturday.
Owens said tomorrow night will be the biggest match they have ever had against each other. Owens said he is not the bad guy and everything that happens to Zayn on Saturday will be something Zayn deserves. Owens said after Saturday, when Zayn is stuck to a wheelchair, Zayn needs to know Owens will not help Zayn’s family and Owens will watch Zayn’s family suffer. Zayn said he’s been nervous all week – but not about what might happen to him, but what he’s going to do to Owens. Zayn said he’s nervous that Owens’s parents and wife and kids won’t be able to forgive him after their match. Zayn said if they don’t forgive him, he can live with that because he’s prepared to end Owens. Owens said he’d see Zayn tomorrow night and ended the segment.
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– The Miz and Melo were talking backstage and Melo told Miz to stay back for his match. Melo left and Cody walked into the frame. Miz asked Cody what he was going to do. Miz said Rock runs Hollywood. Miz said the audience doesn’t get it because they see Cody as the face of the company, but they both know that there is so much more Cody can accomplish. Miz said the only way Cody can get it is if he takes Rock’s offer. Miz introduced the idea that someone else could take the Rock’s offer if Cody doesn’t.
Carmelo Hayes defeated Braun Strowman via DQ to advance in the U.S. title No. 1 contender tournament [1:28]
Eh. All right, then.
Strowman threw Melo around to start things out. Melo rolled to the outside, where Strowman hit his running shoulder-block and tore off his shirt. Tama Tonga ran to ringside and Solo Sikoa hit Strowman in the back with a chair. Strowman took the chair and hit Sikoa. Strowman then threw Tonga over the commentary table. Back in the ring, Melo had the chair and did the Eddie Guerrero spot, throwing the chair so Strowman would hold it as Melo fell down. The ref called for the bell and DQ’d Strowman. After the match, Strowman powerbombed Tonga in the middle of the ring.
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– Bayley, Bianca Belair and Naomi were shown talking in the locker room. Belair said may the best woman win at the Chamber. The three walked towards the ring for the next match.
Roxanne Perez, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez defeated Bayley, Bianca Belair and Naomi [8:53]
I’m a big fan of Perez getting the pin over Bayley. It makes me wonder if the blow-off for Bayley and Perez will be at Stand & Deliver or WreslteMania. Or, maybe, neither. Either way, I’ve really grown to like their program and kudos to Bayley for clearly going out of her way to elevate Perez. The Bliss appearance after the match was fun because I, for once, really was not planning on seeing her tonight, so the surprise made it a worthwhile layer for this viewer. The match itself was lost a little to the commercial break, though that is expected anymore with a lot of these SmackDown bouts (they’ve just become way too formulaic). At the end of the day, good work from everyone involved.
Morgan and Naomi brawled to start things. Naomi dropkicked Morgan in the corner and Morgan rolled to the outside. Ultimately, all six women got into the ring and a fight broke out. Morgan and Naomi were still the legal women and Morgan rolled to the outside and Bayley tagged in to hit a splash on Morgan on the outside. Bayley did the same to Perez on the outside and Rodriguez on the outside. Bayley pointed to the WrestleMania sign and the show went to a commercial break.
The show returned and Rodriguez was working Bayley, who ultimately got the tag to Belair, who flew into the ring from the top and worked over Rodriguez. Belair suplexed Rodriguez and fired the crowd up with a handspring moonsault for a two-count. Naomi tagged in and Belair hit some type of odd back-breaker on Morgan, who ran in. Rodriguez lifted Naomi and slammed Naomi on the top rope. Perez tagged herself in and threw Naomi into a corner, where Naomi kicked Perez in the head.
Bayley tagged in and landed an elbow drop from the top on Perez, but Morgan broke up a pin attempt. Things broke down and Rodriguez and Naomi fought to the outside. Perez and Bayley were alone in the ring and Perez hit Pop Rocks on Bayley for the win. After the match, Perez pointed at the Mania sign and Alex a Bliss popped up out of nowhere to give Perez the Sister Abigail DDT.
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– Byron Saxton interviewed Charlotte Flair backstage. Saxton asked about Tiffy’s tag match at Chamber and Charlotte said her team is cute, but once the smoke clears, Tiffy will have a bigger problem to deal with, and that problem will be Charlotte. We got a “Woooo!!!” to end the brief segment.
– A Nakamura vignette aired with subtitles. He said he will humiliate whomever his next challenger ends up being. “The other dogs will see what happens when you bit my hand,” was a line he used. It was menacing.
– Jacob Fatu cut a promo while walking towards the ring and said the U.S. title is coming to him. Fatu yelled “Hit my music!” as he made his way through guerilla. Fatu made his entrance – alone – for the final match of the night.
LA Knight defeated Carmelo Hayes and Jacob Fatu to become the No. 1 contender for the U.S. title [12:23]
Knight winning felt obvious, but the surprise came (to me, at least) in the form of Fatu not coming away the winner and Solo Sikoa not having anything to do with that loss somehow, even if it would have been by mistake. Melo was always going to take the pin – there’s nothing wrong with that – but Knight winning by pulling Fatu out of the ring and Fatu selling that like he was actually hurt after no-selling everything else in the match felt curious. So it goes. This was a fine-enough way to get Knight his U.S. title shot if they weren’t going to do it this week. I know it hasn’t been all that long, but Fatu already feels like he needs a push-through moment, where he gets a big win in one of these situations. Mania, maybe?
Knight hit Fatu into Melo near the beginning of the match. Knight hit a Bulldog on Fatu from the second rope, but Fatu popped right back up. Knight threw Fatu to the outside and slammed Melo. Knight then hit the jump-up elbow on Melo. Fatu got involved again and threw Knight to the outside, where Fatu headbutted Knight and slammed Melo against the apron. Melo fought back against Fatu until Fatu punched the hell out of Melo. Knight reinserted himself into the proceedings and was ultimately thrown into the crowd barrier via Fatu. Fatu then tried to tackle Knight and Melo through the crowd barrier, but they both moved and Fatu went flying. The show went to a commercial break after that.
Back to the action, Fatu had complete control over both Melo and Knight. Fatu threw Melo everywhere and draped Knight across the top rope. Knight ran into a stiff flying elbow from Fatu and Fatu then super-kicked Melo. The crowd cheered him … and then he missed a Senton on Melo, who followed up with a DDT. It didn’t matter because Fatu popped right up and hit a pop-up Samoan Drop on Melo. Knight came at Fatu and hit a neck-breaker for a two-count.
Knight and Melo teamed up on Fatu, but Fatu wasn’t having that. Knight hit a BFT on Fatu, but at the same time, Melo landed a First 48 on Knight for a nice near-fall on Knight. Melo went to the top, but Knight pushed Melo onto Fatu, who was on the outside. All of this resulted in Knight hitting a springboard splash on Fatu into the commentary table. Melo rolled Knight back into the ring and went to the top. Melo hit Nothing But Net on Knight and should have won, but Fatu broke it up late. From there, Fatu hit his moonsault on Melo and was going to win, but Knight pulled Fatu out of the ring and covered Melo to steal the win.
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– Cody was walking backstage and ran into CM Punk, who asked Cody what Rock wanting Cody’s soul actually meant. Punk said if he was younger, he would have taken it, but now, he’s happy that offer didn’t come to him. Punk told Cody to take Rock’s offer … shine it up real good, turn it sideways, and shove it up Rock’s ass. Punk then told Cody he will win the Chamber and see Cody in the main event at Mania.
The Cody Rhodes segment
My favorite part of this was WWE constantly promoting how SmackDown would feature Cody’s “final words before Elimination Chamber” or something of the sort … only to have Cody almost literally say nothing during this segment between Michael Cole interrupting him and The Rock sending in a loud video from a tarmac. I’m probably in the minority, but I actually believe that Cody has done a very good job being a Capital-A Actor in these segments, both last week and this week. He does a good “I’m conflicted” face and I’m not so sure he could have done that, say, five years ago. Or, for that matter, at any point in his AEW run. The Rock gets a lot of criticism for being The Rock these days, but you’d be lying if you said you think this whole pop-up angle for Elimination Chamber isn’t making the event more interesting. On to Saturday, I suppose.
Michael Cole stood in the ring and introduced Cody. Cody shook Cole’s hand and hugged him. By the time the talking began, it was 10:53 p.m. EST. Cole said there was a lot to talk about. “Cody!” chants broke out. Cole said Cody will have to make a decision on if he will sell out to The Rock. Cole said the Cody Rhodes he knew would never take the offer and talked about how Cody finished his story last year. Cole said Cody was living up to the legacy of his father. Cody started to talk and Cole said Cody was trying to deflect. Cole said Cody could be the Corporate Champion and Rock could give Cody a seat on the TKO board. Cole said “no more live events in small towns,” and Cody could get rid of his bus and be home with his wife and daughter.
Cole stopped himself from talking and said he was being told there was a special gift for Cody. A Ford truck tricked out in Cody Rhodes insignia drove its way into the entranceway. A video of The Rock in his similar truck aired on the big screen. The Rock, in the video, told Cody he will make the decision of a lifetime. Rock said Cody will do the right thing. Rock told Cody should enjoy his gift because he knows Cody likes driving in the open, dangerous, beautiful and dusty road. Rock said he’s been talking to Cody’s daddy all week and he referenced Sturgill Simpson, which was most definitely not on my BINGO card for anything Rock or WWE ever in the history of ever.
Rock said he and Cody will embrace as brothers and Cody will give Rock his soul at the Chamber. Rock reiterated that all of Cody’s dreams can come true. Rock revealed a weight belt that had “Cody’s Soul” written on it with the date of Dusty’s death written on it as well. Rock said he wants Cody to make Rock embrace him as his champion. Rock said, “I love you brother.” and Rock’s video ended. Cody looked conflicted and the credits ran to end the show.
