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At the recent SmackDown event, Cody Rhodes unexpectedly stepped aside from challenging Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, instead welcoming back the returning Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. While the live audience cheered The Rock, fans online overwhelmingly disapproved, booing the legendary wrestler. However, reports suggest this negative reaction has helped boost the popularity of Cody Rhodes further.

Fans push Cody Rhodes to the top of the mountain

Wrestle Features tweeted a list of the top ten merchandised t-shirts on WWEshop.com as of February 7th. The tweet read, “The top selling t-shirts on WWE Shop (Feb 7):

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1: Cody Rhodes (Claim Your Kingdom, Men’s)
2: Cody (Claim Your Kingdom, Women’s)
3: Cody (Claim Your Kingdom, Youth)
4: Drew McIntyre (Tombstone)
5: CM Punk (Return)
6: CM Punk (2011 Classic)
7: Jey Uso (Yeet)
8: Cody (Camo Skull)
9: Cody (Original Claim Your Kingdom)
10: The Rock (People’s Champ)

As per the updated list, Cody Rhodes has 5 of his t-shirts on the top ten list while The Rock has just one, that too at the 10th position. The American Nightmare also occupies the top three position courtesy of his Claim Your Kingdom variant.

Well, Rhodes has been undoubtedly one of WWE’s top superstars and top baby face. Hence, he has always been at the top of the charts despite the presence of superstars like CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. But, with us so close to WrestleMania, it means something special.

Read more: VIDEO: Fans Loudly Chant “We Want Cody” During WrestleMania 40 Promo Starring Dwayne Johnson & Roman Reigns Faceoff

The list indicates the popularity of The American Nightmare among fans who are not yet satisfied with his attempts at ‘finishing the story’ despite it running for over two years now. It has caught more fire after last week’s main event segment featuring Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and The Rock. The surge in fan following for Cody Rhodes can be accredited to the recent segment. But this is exactly what WWE had in plans when they scheduled the infamous main event.

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Everything is under control for WWE with regards to Cody Rhodes

Renowned Wrestling Journalist Dave Meltzer spoke about the segment in one of the episodes of his Wrestling radio podcast. He said, “The reaction for Cody, about Cody getting screwed and people getting behind Cody, that was part of the story. That was absolutely expected.

WWE is trying to create another storyline of success through struggle, a well-defined formula that works well in WWE. In 2014, they executed a similar storyline with Daniel Bryan when he won the WWE World title at WrestleMania in a triple threat. So, as per the latest t-shirt rankings, WWE and Cody Rhodes are on the mark.

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Will Cody Rhodes finish his story at WrestleMania 40?

Watch this story: The Most Extreme Moments in WWE Monday Night Raw History!