The Rock has an answer for Cody Rhodes and his crybaby fans

SmackDown airs tonight (Mar. 1) with a live show emanating from Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. This is the first episode of SmackDown during the six week build towards WrestleMania 40, which takes place on the weekend of Apr. 6 and Apr. 7 in Philadelphia.

The Rock has an answer for Cody Rhodes and his crybaby fans

Cody Rhodes made some news last weekend in Australia at Elimination Chamber when he challenged The Rock to a match anytime, any place. Cody has since adjusted his schedule of WWE events to ensure that he will overlap with The Rock on these next three episodes of SmackDown.

The Rock has an answer for Cody tonight, and there are a number of ways he could go with it. For example, he might accept the challenge and set up a match on SmackDown in the coming weeks. It’s not like Dwayne to wrestle on free TV though, so he’s more likely to agree to a fight on night one at WrestleMania. The other scenario is that he simply declines Cody’s challenge like a coward and tells Solo Sikoa to deal with him.

The smart play is for The Rock to accept Cody’s challenge only if he puts his WrestleMania main event spot on the line in the match. If Cody wants payback on The Rock that badly for last month’s slap in the face, he might actually be willing to risk it all in order to get his hands on The Great One.

No matter which answer The Rock gives, he will almost certainly insult Cody’s crybaby fans and try to lure Rhodes into a trap and beatdown at the hands of The Bloodline. Seth Rollins warned Cody that there is no such thing as a one-on-one match against The Bloodline. Will Seth follow through on those words tonight by having Cody’s back? Will Cody also bring Jey Uso with him to SmackDown, so that Jey can get revenge on his brother Jim for screwing him out of an Intercontinental title win over GUNTHER?

Oh, and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will also be on SmackDown tonight. Remember that guy? He’ll be standing somewhere in The Rock’s shadow, so keep an eye out for him.

The rest of the card

Dakota Kai returns to the ring tonight for the first time since she suffered a torn ACL last May. She teams up with Bayley to take on former allies and current WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka and Kairi Sane, in what I believe is a non-title match. Bayley found Kai in distress in the trainer’s room last week after a presumed backstage attack by the Kabuki Warriors that we never saw on camera. Is this all a ruse for Dakota to turn her back on Bayley too?

Carlito continues his war with Santos Escobar tonight in a Street Fight. Given the rules of this match, there will almost certainly be interference from all of Escobar and Carlito’s henchmen in their respective factions. However, the LWO has been completely outclassed by Legado del Fantasma ever since Rey Mysterio went down with injury in November 2023. Is Rey finally ready to return to set up a big match for WrestleMania 40?

Other stuff to keep an eye on

– Authors of Pain scored a win over the Street Profits last week, and then helped weaken Bobby Lashley’s elbow going into the Elimination Chamber match. Bob’s faction should now respond in a manner that The Final Testament will not forget. What kind of match is this feud leading to at WrestleMania 40?

– Bianca Belair needs an opponent for WrestleMania. Could it be Tiffany Stratton, who had a breakout performance in the women’s Elimination Chamber match?

– Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate suffered their first setback as a team on the main roster when they came up short against The Judgment Day at Elimination Chamber. Is this where Pretty Deadly swoops back in and tries to kick them when they’re down?

– Bron Breakker destroyed some jabroni last week, and I didn’t even have to pay The Rock for using his intellectual property right there. Which poor sap will get speared out of his boots by Bron tonight? And Will Baron Corbin show his face back on the main roster again now that Bron has arrived?

– Is WWE holding off on Jade Cargill’s signing decision until after WrestleMania?

– Austin Theory didn’t seem too happy about Grayson Waller not lifting a finger to help him from a Cody / Seth Rollins beatdown at Elimination Chamber, and then pretending that he actually did help him. Which one of these goofballs will turn on the other first?

– Where the f*** is Omos?

What will you be looking for on SmackDown?