Cody Rhodes has opened up about his mindset during the infamous segment with The Rock after his Royal Rumble 2024 victory.

The Undisputed WWE Champion recently had an interview with Inside The Ropes. He discussed things such as how his daughter motivates him to continue working hard, his AEW exit, and more.

When the topic of the build to WrestleMania 40 came up, Cody was asked about comments made by The Rock’s personal writer Brian Gewirtz about his infamous segment with The People’s Champ. Gewirtz had expressed that Rhodes could have looked more enthusiastic while handing his Mania opportunity to The Great One.

The American Nightmare explained that Brian might be right because things were so real that he wasn’t thinking of himself as a performer in the moment:

“He might have a point. He might, only because I didn’t think of myself. The moment was so real—I guess I didn’t think of myself in a performance sense of ‘You’re not smiling or you are smiling,’ and then the Final Boss had whispered something in my ear that was actually really kind and nice, and I did smile.

And then, I think not so much about my face; the thing I remember about it is I wanted to get out of there. I wanted to get out of there. I did want them to have their moment. I wanted to be gone. I didn’t want people to linger on me.”

• Cody Rhodes Shares What The Rock Gave Him On Post-WrestleMania 40 Raw

Cody Rhodes’ Boo Boo Face

The segment in question happened during the February 2 episode of SmackDown, days after Rhodes won the 2024 Royal Rumble.

Due to his expressions, fans started a huge campaign on social media rejecting the idea of The Rock taking his spot. The backlash forced the Hollywood star to change his plans and it put Cody back on the path to finish his story.

Talking about his expressions during the segment, Cody Rhodes explained that he didn’t think the production would focus so much on him. He was just looking to get out of the spotlight as soon as possible:

“It seems like…I would never shade our production team, especially with what Brian Fadem, and Lee Fitting – everyone is doing. I think they might have spent a little too much time focused on me in the first place—and not focused on that potential matchup. Because, yeah, I don’t think I offered up, Brian probably has a point, I don’t think I offered up the best faces for what that should have been.

I certainly wasn’t trying to be a ‘boo-boo’ face—you know, boo boo is famous in the industry when something’s up and you can tell upon somebody’s entrance. But maybe I was like the number one case of it of all time—who knows?

I did not think they would spend so much time on me. I did not think they would be looking at me while I was in the aisle. I just wanted to get back to my bus. I actually didn’t go through gorilla; I walked around it. I didn’t want to see anybody. I just sprinted and got on my bus and just locked the door.”

Cody Rhodes is currently scheduled to defend his Undisputed WWE Championship against Kevin Owens at the Bash In Berlin PPV on August 31. You can check out the betting odds for the show here.

Wrestling fans are far too familiar with how WCW ended as the story’s been told over and over, but according to Brian Gewirtz we all may get a different look tonight when VICE premieres the Who Killed WCW docuseries

Speaking with Eric Bischoff on a bonus episode of “83 Weeks” former WWE Head Writer Brian Gewirtz and Evan Hunsey of Dark Side Of The Ring gave details at how the show came about and what fans can expect from the episodes that will make it differ from what WWE can typically put out that tends to lean towards the company narrative. Gewirtz broke it down for the former WCW President.

“The talent sitting down aren’t told like, ‘Yeah, of course you can curse. Yeah, you can talk about this thing, you can talk about this business thing that normally wouldn’t appear in a WWE program or that kind of thing.’

“I know from watching it that WCW and Turner executives specifically had never really been interview to tell their side of things or tell their story and all these factors, plus the fact that you’re now approaching 23 years since the end of WCW, it seems like if there was ever a time to play off of the 90’s nostalgia plus the relationships that we’ve cultivated and our relationship with VICE, especially Evan and Jason’s, that now would be a great time to do it.

• Who Killed WCW Preview Shares Insight on Infamous Lawn Dart Moment

How Did The Rock Get On Board?

Bischoff asked Gewirtz how The Rock felt about doing a WCW-focused series and ‘The Final Boss’ was all about it.

“He was like, ‘Great, let’s do it. Let’s do it and if we’re going to do it, let’s do it in the exact way that we’re pitching it which is unfiltered and the no bullshit version of the story. He was on board for that. [The Rock said] ‘No I would love to sit down and give the perspective of the WWE during this time,’ even though that is going to be a small part of it.”

“Who Killed WCW” premieres tonight at 10 PM ET on VICETV.

Brian Gewirtz was heavily involved in The Rock’s notorious 2024 return to WWE, and confirms matters were supposed to be a little different between ‘The People’s Champion’ and Cody Rhodes.

Speaking on “The Masked Man Show”, the former head WWE writer talked about the notorious segment on SmackDown where Cody Rhodes relinquished his WWE Undispusted Universal Championship title shot to The Rock. Rhodes stoicly shook hands and hugged The Rock, appearing to putting his story on pause. However, the fans feedback made it become the most disliked video in WWE YouTube video history and an audible was called.

Gewirtz said that all that was supposed to come across quite differently than originally planned.

“Cody, it was supposed to be, in some form, ‘Yeah, f***in’ A! Go get em Rock! You’re going to get your ass kicked, Roman! Let’s do this!’ and this uplifting promo. Instead, he looked like someone shot his dog in the face in the parking lot. Just look at his expression. By the way, someone else, even when the team wins, looks forlorn and upset and despondent. [New York Knicks] Julius Randle [laughs].”

• Brian Gewirtz Supplying The Rock With Ammo Against Cody Rhodes & His ‘Goofy A** Dog’ Pharaoh

Gewirtz didn’t think that demeanor helped matters, but made clear he understood where Rhodes was coming from regarding his feelings on the decision, stating that ‘The American Nightmare’ was one of the realest people he’s ever met. He feels that the fans felt that.

“They felt like ‘he doesn’t mean a word of this. This is being forced for him to say.’ He’s despondent.”

Please credit “The Masked Man” and h/t to Fightful for the transcription.

Brian Gewirtz may be the former WWE head writer, but he’s not afraid to put the pen down and speak up when his name gets mentioned.

On Monday’s WWE Raw, the wrestling world was waiting to hear what Cody Rhodes had to say in response to The Rock and “The American Nightmare” pulled zero punches. Like The Rock has done in the past, Rhodes decorated his words with some colorful language and got more than one eyebrow raised other than The Rock himself. That included putting his “Final Boss” moniker into question.

“You have referred to yourself as ‘The Final Boss’, kudos to Brian Gewirtz for that nickname, perhaps you are the actual, literal ‘final boss. ‘Perhaps I am too naive to see that, but at WrestleMania, I don’t think you’re going to be the ‘final boss.’ At WrestleMania, I think you’re just Roman’s side chick.”

However, Gewirtz took to Twitter/X that he wasn’t the originator of that nickname, but did put something else on Rocky’s radar.

“Final Boss” isn’t anything I came up with. The Rock calls himself that because he is that. If it makes you feel better Cody Rhodes, I was the first to tell him about your spectacularly stupid goofy ass dog.”

The Rock has arguably garnered the most heat by taking shots at Pharaoh, Rhodes’ lovable white husky dog who many fans are familiar with since the early AEW days. Rhodes would notoriously bring Pharaoh along to Starrcast events and have meet and greets with the pooch in order to raise money for charity, but The Rock has been unabashed in his targets. 

So far on Rock’s list, he’s taken shots at Pharaoh and Cody’s mom, Michelle Rubio, who on Raw, Cody made clear that Michelle isn’t afraid of “The Final Boss.” The Rock will be on the “go-home” show of WWE Raw.

The Rock rocked Music City on Friday’s WWE SmackDown and happened to do so with extra time to spare, according to former WWE Head Writer, Brian Gewirtz.

WWE was in Memphis, TN for SmackDown and it was The Rock who kicked off the festivities. Unlike he did in past weeks, The People’s Champ didn’t run down the hometown of Elvis, calling it “home” himself as he got his start there as Flex Kavana with Memphis Wrestling. However, the gloves came off when it came to Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, and particularly, Cody’s mom, which was The Rock’s main target.

However, a report from Fightful Select said that The Rock went over way his time for the segment and that one match was cut for time. The Rock going over was reportedly expected with accomodations likely set, but Brian Gewirtz took to social media to dispel the notion that The Rock ran late.

“The segment went 30 seconds under its allotted 20 minutes.”

The segment went 30 seconds under its allotted 20 minutes. https://t.co/BfZHMH14wJ

— Brian Gewirtz (@bfg728) March 17, 2024

Gewirtz has been The Rock’s go-to guy as a writer since both were in WWE  and the two have obviously played a big role since getting back into the WWE fold. 

Whether The Rock does go over time, it really “doesn’t matter” considering he’s such a huge star and is on WWE’s Board Of Directors. He notoriously has found different routes to get the word out about promoting his SmackDown appearances by utilizing social media and has already cut several memorable promos that he also sprinkled with colorful language not suited for television.

WWE is a well-oiled machine, and there is a method to whatever they’re doing backstage. A recent report has also sparked a new discussion about segments that lack a producer on the rundown sheet. 

Why Some WWE Segments Don’t Have Producers

Yesterday, I exclusively reported the reason why WWE doesn’t list producers on certain segments. There is a very good reason why producers aren’t assigned to segments, but that doesn’t mean there is no script in play.

As I reported yesterday, I was told by sources within WWE that producers will sit on a headset backstage and call the segment, making sure that they accomplish their goal. When a promo is listed with no producer, that only means that there is no physicality needed for the segment. 

Whether the physicality is moving from one point to another to hit a mark, or actually taking a bump, they need a producer for those segments. WWE doesn’t assign a producer for segments where there are no specific physical points to hit.

Former WWE writer Brian Gewirtz fired off on X, replying to another story about CM Punk and Seth Rollins’ 12/11 RAW segment not having a producer. In the midst of this post, Gewirtz confirmed my previous exclusive report. 

This is so stupid. When there’s no physicality, there’s no producer assigned to segment. Been that way forever. Doesn’t mean there’s not a writer working with talent. The bigger question: why is anyone within the company sharing scripts/rundowns with anyone outside the company?

CM Punk and Seth Rollins did not need a producer for their segment on the December 11th episode of WWE RAW. Their rivalry is still heating up in  WWE, so odds are they will get physical eventually, so producers will be needed down the line.

WWE has a lot of reasons why they coordinate things the way they do backstage. Producers are great additions to the team, but they are not needed in every single situation.

This is so stupid. When there’s no physicality, there’s no producer assigned to segment. Been that way forever. Doesn’t mean there’s not a writer working with talent. The bigger question: why is anyone within the company sharing scripts/rundowns with anyone outside the company? https://t.co/tuhqVChre7

— Brian Gewirtz (@bfg728) December 13, 2023

WWE has excelled through many eras in its history. From the famous Attitude Era, to Ruthless Aggression, to the New Era, World Wrestling Entertainment has garnered favorable success. Perhaps one of the more polarizing eras though, ran just over a year amidst the family-friendly format of the company: the Guest Host Era.

From June 29, 2009 until June 14, 2010, Monday Night RAW featured a special celebrity guest host each week. Ranging from backstage segments, to in-ring confrontations, to even booking Superstar matches, the guest host element would become a key feature to the weekly editions of RAW with the likes of Shaquille O’Neil, Betty White, and Bob Barker.

Despite the addition of some high-profile celebrities, former head writer Brian Gewirtz admitted his shock at how long the era actually survived. During a recent interview with Sam Roberts for his NotSam Wrestling podcast, Gewirtz opened up about this unique period in WWE history.

“It’s amazing that it lasted for over a full year, which is crazy to think about,” he began.

“I think everyone is kind of in agreement on the best shows from that era. Most people liked the Bob Barker episode a great deal. They liked Hugh Jackman. They liked Mike Tyson. Shaquille O’Neal was really good. Ozzy Osborne people liked, even Seth Green, when he kicked it off — that went really well.”

“It never should have been an era to begin with, but it did, and somehow we all survived.”

Brian Gewirtz continued on to reveal the original idea behind the era:

“The whole idea was born out of, how could we just take a break from the heel GM character? That segued into what if it was a different legend every week who was the GM? That’s when to what if it was a different celebrity every week? And then that turned into what if we’re just like Saturday Night Live only better?”

Memorable Guest Hosts

In naming some of the memorable guest hosts from the era, Gewirtz recalled meeting stand-up comedian Ken Jeong after he had tossed over the top rope by John Cena.

“I got to meet and become friends with Dr. Ken Jeong from the Jeremy Piven episode, who very bravely agreed to get himself thrown out of the ring from John Cena and was assured by everyone that he would be caught safely,” he said.” He was caught, but I don’t think he landed safely as his head smacked against the steel entrance way and he had to stitch himself up. hYat’s the thing, like the pacing, like waiting for Dr. Ken to come out, waiting for Ken to come out and going, ‘Oh my God, is he going to be pissed? I thought I had this brand new friend. Now he’s going to hate me. What’s going to happen? Is he going to badmouth WWE to everyone he knows in Hollywood, or is our reputation going to be sunk?’

Then he comes out and is just like so full of adrenaline and positive energy. He was like, ‘that was awesome,’ and apologizing to me like, ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t take that bump right.’ Like, again? No, I mean, personally, we’re glad you’re not suing all of us, but also glad that you’re okay and are happy about this.”

The Hoff Arrives To RAW

On April 12th, 2010, actor David Hasselhoff arrived in the United Kingdom to host RAW, later instructing David Otunga to face then WWE Champion John Cena. There, Brian Gewirtz explained how the Hasselhoff episode ultimately led to guest hosts no longer being allowed to book matches.

“When David Hasselhoff in the UK, when he had all these–Hasselhoff is great. At this point Dave Kapoor is one of the former writers, WWE, the former Ranjin Singh of the Great Khali fame. He’d come up to me because David is, as you know, the friendliest, most affable person, and he’s not faking it, he just is.”

“[Ranjin] come up to me and like, ‘Hey, Brian. Yeah, man. So Hasselhoff wants a group of people to be hanging out in the parking lot, chanting, Hoff, Hoff, Hoff! Then he gets out of his big truck and they follow him into the arena all the way in the ring, and they’re chanting Hoff!’ I’m like, ‘okay’ and then he’s got to somehow make the Intercontinental title match at SummerSlam. None of this makes sense anymore.”

The Hasselhoff show was when Vince [McMahon] finally said, okay, these guest hosts no longer have the power to make matches. They’re just going to be there, andthat’s when you saw like a turning point. That’s when it all started to wane a little bit, where it’s like they’d have their one segment, but it wouldn’t be like we’d go into their guest host office and then people would be arguing and they’d make a match and that kind of thing, because it was just a very, very unfair position to put them in, especially the non-wrestling fans who had to now learn all this exposition and ‘but it’s going to be a no disqualification match, but you got to remember it’s going to be taking place this Sunday night live on pay per view right now on the WWE Network’ and all that kind of thing.

“It’s like, I just want to come in and have fun. What am I doing here? I have so much information to give that ultimately, it kind of fizzled and then changed. And then it’s like, ‘Hey, if a celebrity happens to be on the show this week, great.’ But now they don’t have the onus of having to book matches and be in charge, and remember a lot of things, which is the way it should have been in the first place.”

Brian Gewirtz’s new book There’s Just One Problem…: True Tales from the Former, One-Time, 7th Most Powerful Person in WWE is out now.

Former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz has written a tell-all memoir about working for the company which will hit shelves this August.

Last December, Gewirtz announced that he was writing a book that would detail his journey to WWE and career as a writer.

On Twitter this week, Gewirtz confirmed the book’s title, ‘There’s Just One Problem,’ saying that it “documents over a decade’s worth of adventures as head writer.”

The book is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

There’s Just One Problem…

Gewirtz promises “untold stories” featuring “the biggest names and controversial moments in wrestling.”

While the book won’t be released to the public until August 16, the 288-page work has been read by some already, with Becky Lynch calling it “the best book I have read in years.”

WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle has praised ‘There’s Just One Problem‘ saying it is “as entertaining as the scripts Brian wrote during his amazing career.”

The book will be published ‘Twelve Books publishing’ and will be available in hardback, ebook, and audiobook.

About the Author

Brian Gewirtz joined the WWE (then WWF) in 1999 after working with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson for a segment with MTV.

It was “The Brahma Bull” who approached the then 26-year-old writer, asking if he’d ever considered a role with the wrestling promotion.

Sticking with WWE for over 15 years, Gewirtz left in 2015 to join The Rock’s production company ‘Seven Bucks Productions.’

• Brian Gewirtz: The Rock Could Return for a WWE Match (March 2022)

Brian Gewirtz has played a key role in The Rock’s success dating back to their time in WWE and he feels “The Great One” has at least one more match in him.

It’s well-known by now that The Rock is busy. He’s Hollywood’s biggest star and is always in demand. He has found a way to take some time off for WWE appearances and even wrestled John Cena in back-to-back WrestleMania events.

Finally, The Rock Has Come Back?

During an interview with TV Insider, Brian Gewirtz said that he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of The Rock making his return to the squared circle.

“I sometimes learn of Dwayne’s wrestling aspirations the way everyone else does: through his social media posts. There are so many factors that go into Dwayne’s appearance in terms of a WWE ring. Between his movie schedule and health.

“Infamously at WrestleMania against John Cena, it resulted in some pretty horrific injuries that required surgery and the delaying of the Hercules movie at the time. I also know this is a passion and business he was born into and born with. That never truly goes away.

“I don’t know if you’ve seen the guy lately, but he is in pretty good shape. I think he could probably do it if push came to shove. I think it comes down to what he wants to do and when. It comes down to what Dwayne wants to do. I’m sure WWE would be more than happy to have him.”

Of course, WWE is hoping to pull off a match between The Rock and WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in 2023. Whether or not they can pull it off remains to be seen. To many, it would be the biggest match the wrestling industry has seen in quite some time.

Brian Gewirtz is scheduled to release a book about his time with WWE. 

The former WWE head creative writer is planning to release a book on his run with WWE sometime in the summer of 2022, according to PWInsider. It’s being published by Twelve Books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group.

He started with WWE in 1999 and eventually worked his way up to the role of head writer before leaving in 2012 although he stayed on as a consultant through 2015.

He got hired by the company after a recommendation from The Rock. When he left WWE, he went to work for The Rock’s production company, Seven Bucks, where he has helped to create Titan Games, Young Rock, and other projects for Rock as the Senior Vice President of Development. 

The Rock’s “Red Notice” movie, which is his latest film to be released, has been a big success for Netflix as it became the most-watched film in its first 28 days of release on the streaming service. 

The Rock’s animated “DC League Of Super-Pets” film where the former WWE Champion stars as the voice of Krypto the Super-Dog is set to hit theaters on May 20, 2022.

Kurt Angle has revealed a wrestlers’ court story involving perhaps the most highly-praised writer to ever work for WWE.

Angle and ex-WWE writer Brian Gewirtz always had solid chemistry. Angle has gone as far as to say that Gewirtz is one of the smartest minds to enter the business. Today, Gewirtz works closely with The Rock, who has become a Hollywood megastar.

Kurt Angle Recalls Wrestlers’ Court Story

Taking fan questions on The Kurt Angle Show, the Olympic gold medalist revealed why Gewirtz was once sent to the dreaded wrestlers’ court.

“I remember there was one case if you wanna call it that [laughs]. It was the writer Brian Gewirtz. He was accused from the prosecuting attorney, Bradshaw, John Bradshaw Layfield, he was accused of favoring certain talent to write for them. That talent being me, Jericho, The Rock, and Edge & Christian. The judge was Undertaker and Brian had to go to court and facing Bradshaw you’re not gonna win [laughs]. So, Brian had to defend himself and Bradshaw was the prosecuting attorney.

“What happened was a lot of the wrestlers got to speak their minds about Brian not writing for them. But listen, Brian was told who to write for. It’s not like he got to pick and choose but he did find chemistry with certain people. When he did that, he would put a little more time and effort into those people that he had chemistry with. So, I understand Brian but I also understand the boys being upset cause Brian did write specifically for The Rock, me, Jericho, and Edge & Christian, I think Hurricane Helms.”

Ultimately, Brian’s punishment wasn’t too bad.

“The end of the court, the end of the hearing Brian had to buy five cases of beer for the wrestlers. So, at least they didn’t do anything physical to him. They only made him buy beer [laughs].”

Angle has said on his podcast that the reason he appreciated Gewirtz is that he was always a wrestling fan. Angle believes that all WWE writers should be fans of the business before being hired.

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