Cody Rhodes reveals scrapped storyline idea involving The Rock; Bronson Reed addresses Oba Femi incident, Sami Zayn praises CM Punk

In the latest WWE developments, Cody Rhodes revealed an unplanned idea connected to Simone Johnson (known in NXT as Ava), while Bronson Reed commented on the controversy with Oba Femi and Sami Zayn spoke respectfully about CM Punk after their recent encounters.

As Bleacher Report reports, Rhodes said in a conversation that he had thought about surrendering his “soul” — but not to The Rock, at least not directly. His idea envisioned Simone Johnson, who at the time served as NXT general manager under the name Ava, as the character who would take this “soul” and speak on his behalf. The storyline was intended for the build-up to Elimination Chamber 2025, when The Rock asked Rhodes to give him his soul; Rhodes refused and events led to the shocking return of John Cena in an antagonistic role, who attacked Rhodes during the event. Rhodes said he never fully pitched the idea to The Rock, so the script was not developed further.

Bronson Reed faced backlash after the segment with Oba Femi on the latest episode of Raw, where Reed returned from injury and, together with The Vision, attacked Femi. At the end of the attack, Reed placed his foot on Oba, and Femi exploded the timing by pushing the foot away. Reed described these reactions as a reflection of each of their desire for dominance and said competition is a natural part of the sport, adding that there do not appear to be deep misunderstandings that would prevent their future encounters. Backstage reports mentioned that Oba’s reaction had not been scripted and that there was slight dissatisfaction, but the professional relationship seems set to allow the rivalry to continue.

Sami Zayn, after losing the title to CM Punk on July 6 in Chicago and regaining it on SmackDown in Mexico City, admitted he had been skeptical about Punk, but after several head-to-head encounters this year he got the right impression of his abilities. In an interview, Zayn said that after facing Punk several times he cannot deny his quality in the ring. The latest match in Mexico City was chaotic — an involvement by Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae and Kevin Owens resulted in an accidental hit by Owens on Punk, which gave Zayn the chance to pin and win the title, becoming the 33rd different champion to hold the WWE title two or more times. The rivalry between them does not appear to be over and further episodes are expected.

According to Bleacher Report, these are the key points from the latest WWE developments, drawn from interviews and reports of recent events.