WWE Writer Denies Rock, Cena Team Name; Rumors on Cody Rhodes, McIntyre and Jeff Cobb

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Rumored Team Name for The Rock and Cena Shot Down

John Cena and The Rock shockingly joined forces at Elimination Chamber earlier this month, but there is apparently no truth to the rumored name for their alliance.

WrestleVotes reported this week on Backstage Pass (h/t Wrestle Ops) that one of the potential names discussed for the team of The Rock and Cena is "The Rock and Soul Connection."

However, longtime WWE writer and associate of The Rock, Brian Gewirtz, made it clear on X that no such name was under consideration:

If "The Rock and Soul Connection" was a real idea, it would be something of a reference to other teams involving The Rock and his family.

For one, The Rock's hugely popular team with Mankind was known as The Rock and Sock Connection.

The late Rocky Johnson, who was The Rock's father, was also part of a successful team with Tony Atlas known as Soul Patrol.

Of course, the "soul" aspect of the reported name for The Rock and Cena likely refers primarily to the now-legendary segment involving The Rock, Cody Rhodes, Cena and rapper Travis Scott at Elimination Chamber.

The Rock previously told Rhodes that he wanted him to sell him his soul, and he gave The American Nightmare until Elimination Chamber to make a decision.

Not surprisingly, Rhodes turned down The Final Boss, but he paid the price for doing so, as Cena turned heel for the first time since 2003 and aligned himself with The Rock by attacking Cody.

Now, Cena is lined up to challenge Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41, which could make for one of the most highly anticipated matches and WrestleMania builds in many years.

Reported Plans for Rhodes, McIntyre on SmackDown

WWE reportedly had a major feud lined up for Rhodes at some point after WrestleMania 41, but it may no longer be in the works.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t WrestleTalk), WWE moved Drew McIntyre from Raw to SmackDown with the idea that he would eventually feud with Rhodes for the WWE title.

However, if Rhodes drops the title to Cena at WrestleMania, the plan for Cody vs. Drew reportedly could "fall apart."

Since going from Raw to SmackDown, McIntyre has been embroiled in a rivalry with Damian Priest, who eliminated him from the men's Royal Rumble match.

Priest also eliminated McIntyre from the men's Elimination Chamber match earlier this month, and he successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank contract on McIntyre last year at WrestleMania 40 to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

All signs point toward McIntyre vs. Priest at WrestleMania 41, and if McIntyre wins, he would perhaps be in the mix for a world title opportunity.

Of course, if Cena beats Rhodes for the WWE Championship, it wouldn't make much sense to do a heel vs. heel rivalry and match with Cena and McIntyre.

For now, Rhodes is solely focused on his WrestleMania 41 match against Cena, and WWE is reportedly planning to capitalize on their rivalry in a big way.

Per WrestleVotes on Backstage Pass (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), WWE is working on Rhodes-branded merchandise featuring the phrase, "Go f--k yourself," which is what he told The Rock at Elimination Chamber.

That figures to be a big seller, and it could add another layer of intrigue to Cody's feud with Cena and The Rock.

Latest on WWE's Reported Interest in Jeff Cobb

WWE is reportedly making a play to sign well-traveled, veteran pro wrestler Jeff Cobb.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), WWE has shown strong interest in Cobb, and one source even said he was listed on WWE's internal roster this week.

Meanwhile, an AEW source told Fightful that Cobb is not expected to sign with AEW despite making some appearances for the company in the past.

Cobb, 42, has been with New Japan Pro-Wrestling since 2017, holding the IWGP Tag Team Championships twice and both the NJPW World Television Championship and NEVER Openweight Championship one time each.

He also spent time in Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but his most celebrating run may have been in Lucha Underground as the masked monster Matanza, during which time he held the Lucha Underground Championship once.

Per Meltzer (h/t WrestleTalk), Cobb turned down the opportunity to sign with AEW in the past and opted to move to Japan and remain with NJPW.

However, there is a belief that Cobb senses now may be his only opportunity to land a sizable contract with WWE and AEW.

Meltzer noted that while Cobb and WWE have had discussions, it has not yet been confirmed that he signed a deal. He is reportedly also still booked to wrestle on an NJPW card in Chicago on April 11.

In WWE, Cobb would likely be able to step in as a top star in NXT immediately, and while it may take some time for the fans to get acclimated to him, his in-ring style would likely allow him to make an impact on the main roster as well.

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