Cody Rhodes Admits Openness to a The Rock Match, While WWE Crown Jewel Match Draws High Praise

Nattie believes that AJ Styles vs. John Cena at WWE Crown Jewel: Perth will be remembered for years to come. The October 2025 match, held during Cena’s retirement tour, included callbacks to their history and past rivalries.

During a recent interview with “The West Sport,” Nattie called the match a “love letter” to wrestling and compared it to Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin and Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, while noting that compelling storytelling makes a match special.

Nattie discussed the importance of storytelling in the ring:

On the importance of storytelling in the ring: “Yeah. I always think that there’s no — you have to have a story. And I think when you have a story, it just makes the match. I always think if you don’t — like, John Cena came to The Dungeon a while ago, and he was just saying that it’s so important to create a story as a bit of a foundation for the match. Because it’s everything as far as keeping people entertained and interested.”

On great examples of storytelling in matches: “I think when I look at, for example, John Cena versus AJ Styles in Perth — their match, it was just a love letter to pro wrestling. It was special, but it was so beautiful and so simple, but also just so dynamic. Like, it’s one for the ages. You could watch that match and 20 years from now, it’s timeless. You think of those matches that are timeless like that. You think of Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin. You think of Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels. And you think of — again like, [Styles] vs. John. But again, it comes back down to storytelling. If you don’t have a story, you don’t really have anything.”

Cody Rhodes has not ruled out a singles match with The Rock, though he said the decision rests with the Hollywood star.

Rhodes faced The Rock in a tag team match at WrestleMania 40, where he later defeated Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship, and the two also crossed paths before WrestleMania 41, when The Rock asked for his “soul.”

During a recent appearance on the “Insight” podcast, Rhodes called WrestleMania 40 (Night Two) “peak art,” and said that no wrestler would refuse a match with The Rock.

Rhodes discussed whether WrestleMania 40 Night Two felt like “peak wrestling” to him:

On if WrestleMania 40 Night Two felt like ‘peak wrestling’ to him: “To me, wrestling is never a dirty word for me, right? But I’d actually say it’s peak art, and I tell people all the time who misunderstand wrestling and think, oh, there’s goofiness to what we do. There’s a lot of goofiness to what we do. There is, and some nights it’s what you think. Then other nights, it’s better than any other story you might have ever seen, and I’m not saying that was, but I know when you’re in one of those moments, and there have been so many significant moments throughout history, and they’re not always loaded with drama. Just think about Steve spraying the beer. Think about Hogan slamming Andre, like that. Those moments, they rise to the highest points of- I’m using the word I never thought I’d use, art. It’s one of the reasons all the great wrestlers that I grew up loving were big-time film buffs. This is their way of telling stories, and this is their canvas-the squared circle, the ring. But you name it. Somebody who is a big film buff or a huge music fan, and not that everyone isn’t, but even on a deeper connective level, how do I put this together? How do I entertain?”

On if he was ever going to have a singles match with The Rock: “Oof. It’s not that I’m evading that answer. It’s that I don’t really know how to answer because I think personally he has a couple of matches probably left to do. I think that personally, but I also know looking at WrestleMania 40 and another guy who he’s given all, continues to give all as part of the board. He could easily say that was a great final piece as a performer in a wrestling ring. That’ll be up to him. That’ll certainly be up to him if there’s more and what those matches might be. I don’t think any wrestler would ever look you in the eye and tell you they wouldn’t want a match like that.”

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