While it seemed to be obvious that The Rock wouldn’t really convince Cody Rhodes to turn heel and align with him, the former WWE Champion certainly pushed for it to happen.
The Rock showed up at the WWE Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event to hear the answer from the Undisputed WWE Champion for an alliance between them. After Rhodes turned him down, Rock got his champion in the way of John Cena.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that Rock legitimately wanted to be aligned with Rhodes and for Rhodes to go heel. People in the company believed the only thing that could have hurt the company would have been a Rhodes heel turn at this time.
The feeling was that this current crowd is for Rhodes, and there is the argument that you don’t mess with a successful formula. Rhodes turned down The Rock’s idea that he go heel, and Cena was the second choice.
Meltzer added, “I had figured Punk was going to get the slot, but we’re told it never came down to him as Cena agreed to do it.”
