WWE WrestleMania Kickoff descends into chaos for Dwayne Johnson and Cody Rhodes

WWE's WrestleMania XL Kickoff event descended into chaos on Thursday (February 9) when Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson slapped Cody Rhodes.

The event followed Johnson making a surprise appearance on SmackDown last Friday and going face-to-face with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, after Rhodes said he would not be facing Reigns at WrestleMania.

At the event, which was held in Las Vegas, World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins came out first and called Rhodes to the stage, only for Reigns's music to hit instead.

Related: Seth Rollins provides injury update ahead of WWE WrestleMania

Reigns said he would choose who faces him in the main event of WrestleMania before naming The Rock as his pick.

Johnson came to the stage and asked the crowd: "Do you think The Rock is going to beat Roman Reigns at WrestleMania?" The crowd subsequently responded with 'we want Cody' chants.

Johnson showed an image of the 'Samoan Dynasty Family Tree', which had his and Roman's grandfathers, who made a blood oath, at the top.

He then explained that, because of their family lineage, The Rock versus Roman Reigns would be the greatest WrestleMania main event of all time.

But after Reigns and Johnson shook hands, Rhodes appeared on stage and said: "This right here is bullshit."

Rhodes told Reigns that, as the Royal Rumble 2024 winner, it was his right to choose the main event of WrestleMania and he chose the Tribal Chief.

When Reigns rejected him, Rhodes told him that his and Johnson's grandfathers would both be ashamed of the champion.

Related: NJPW announces Kazuchika Okada's departure after reports of WWE and AEW interest

This caused Johnson to retaliate by saying that, when Rhodes insulted Reigns' family, he was also talking about The Rock's family, before he slapped Rhodes across the face.

All four men — Johnson, Rhodes, Reigns, and Rollins — were separated by officials.

The event ended with Johnson telling Triple H backstage that he needed to fix things. After the event ended, Triple H took to X to confirm that Rhodes vs Reigns would main event WrestleMania.

Catch up on Raw, Smackdown, NXT and all the big WWE action via the WWE Network or TNT Sports. US viewers can access the WWE Network via Peacock.

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