– Could WWE be gearing up for a “Corporate Cody” run? Following the interesting return of The Rock, who urged “The American Nightmare” to become “The Rock’s Champion” on WWE SmackDown on Friday night, WRKD Wrestling has pointed out that CM Punk planted the seeds weeks ago for suggesting that the WWE Championship is slowly changing Rhodes. Whether or not this is the direction things are headed remains to be seen, and as always, can always change a million times as WWE heads into WrestleMania 41 in April.
– WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque surfaced on social media on Saturday to comment on the announcement of WrestleMania 42 coming to the Superdome in New Orleans, LA. in 2026.
“The showcase of the immortals…The granddaddy of them all…The ultimate spectacle…Finally is back… in New Orleans! 2026. #Wrestlemania.”
The showcase of the immortals…
The granddaddy of them all…
The ultimate spectacle…
Finally is back… in New Orleans!
2026#Wrestlemania https://t.co/ISL3O0ySMp— Triple H (@TripleH) February 22, 2025
– As noted, The Rock returned with a Lil Wayne-style remix of his heel theme music for his special return appearance on the February 21 episode of WWE SmackDown in New Orleans, LA. At the post-show press conference featuring “The Final Boss” to promote the news of WrestleMania 42 coming to “The NOLA” via the Superdome in 2026, the WWE legend spoke about the slight variation to his entrance tune.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Lil Wayne,” Rock said. “I’ve always been a big fan of Louisana hip hop from Master P, Juvenile, Birdman, 504. All of those guys. Those are my guys. I came up in Miami and South Florida. Those are my influences. I love all of those guys. I felt like, we’re coming to New Orleans. I have a big announcement: we are bringing WrestleMania to New Orleans. For years, before I would go out and wrestle in these matches, whether here in New Orleans or around the world throughout the United States, I was always listening to all of those guys. I figured, now I’m going to go out, let’s take a moment. I wanted to give love and respect to the OGs. This is Lil Wayne’s city. I love Kendrick, that’s my guy. I love the NFL and I love the Super Bowl. I loved his performance. It was my way of showing love to the OG of New Orleans and that’s Lil Wayne. ‘The Block is Hot,’ specifically, I wanted that one.”
(H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above Rock quotes.)
