Report Reveals When WWE Decided on Brock Lesnar and Cody Rhodes Program
The WWE Universe got a bit of a surprise when Brock Lesnar was revealed as Cody Rhodes' tag partner against Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa, and they were even more surprised when Lesnar turned on Rhodes and hit him with an F5. Now it would seem Rhodes will have to conquer Lesnar before moving back towards Reigns, and some have assumed that program was some sort of change from original plans or a product of Vince McMahon's return. A new report from Fightful Select sheds some light on the situation, and it looks as if the plan was in place before WrestleMania, and a few hints of that turn were even part of Lesnar's presentation.
The report states that while there were some adjustments to the plans on Raw for Rhodes, his encounter with Lesnar and the program itself was not one of them. Lesnar and Rhodes were scheduled to start a program before Vince returned to having an effect on creative, and they had some time to prepare.
Sources familiar with the situation say that Lesnar knew of his plans after WrestleMania nearly a month ahead of time, and while it's not known if the entire creative team knew the direction, Lesnar and those in the know were aware of the plan going forward. As for standing at Rhodes' side in the tag match and the F5 turn, those plans were laid out to Lesnar a month before Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania.
Those they spoke to also said there were hints of a heel turn in Lesnar's presentation. Those included not getting back into the ring with Omos, backing out of the ring during some interactions with Omos, and avoiding contact. By the end of the segment, Lesnar was clearly on the heel side of things, and it would appear that Rhodes and Lesnar will have some sort of program moving forward.
The wrestling world is still processing what happened at WrestleMania, specifically the ending to Rhodes vs Reigns. Reigns' win allows him to march on to an 1000-day reign, and for Rhodes, the challenger will have to be built back up to move back in the Title mix. Paul Heyman recently addressed the backlash to Reigns' Title win and people heading into WrestleMania assuming Rhodes would win and become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
"I like the fact that everyone walks in now thinking this is the last title defense. I experienced this before, it was something I had a hand in ending, which was the Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania. Every year, you sat there, 'Oh, this is it.' During the match, the audience is anticipating and salivating for it, this to be the moment that they get to witness the historical three count on the Undertaker to which the streak would end. Then, when Undertaker would defend the streak, they would say, 'I don't want to see this end, I can't wait until the next chapter.' Then, it finally ended, and the audience was shocked. They thought they would see it, they thought they would see it, they didn't," Heyman said.
Are you excited for Rhodes vs Lesnar? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!