Since WrestleMania 39, there has been a lot of the unexpected when it comes to Cody Rhodes. No one expected Rhodes to lose to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. The following night, no one expected Brock Lesnar to turn on him before a tag match against Reigns and Solo Sikoa, setting up a new feud for The American Nightmare.

What the future plans are for Cody Rhodes in this feud with Brock Lesnar or beyond, no one is quite sure. Again, WWE creative surprised a lot of people with their decision to hold off on putting the title on Rhodes and extending further Reigns' run.

Rhodes entire character is about “finishing the story.” But as of late, the story seems to keep getting interrupted or put off by Lesnar's attacks. During this past Monday's Raw, Lesnar cost Rhodes the chance of advancing to the semi-finals in the World Heavyweight Championship tournament. They will now face each other at Night of Champions in a rematch from Backlash.

What's so puzzling about this feud is that there's been no explanation as to why Lesnar attacked Rhodes. Rhodes has implied in promos that he believes Lesnar is upset about him taking his main event status, particularly his spot at WrestleMania. But if that is the direction, it's one of the worst in the Triple H era as CCO.

For one, it doesn't fit the Lesnar character at all. For a guy that has a relaxed schedule and tends to only show up on the major shows, why would Lesnar care? And two, it makes Lesnar look like a petty heel.

There has to be more to this story than this, right?

One fan theory on social media suggests that there is more to this story, and for all intents and purposes, we should all hope so.

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The blacked-out silhouette of Kevin Nash with a text bubble reading, "He’s the perfect f**king champion right now" next to Cody Rhodes with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Toni Storm with a text bubble reading "Go see a f**king movie!" next to Cody Rhodes with the AEW Dynasty logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Cody Rhodes with a text bubble reading "Roman Reigns is elite" next to Roman Reigns with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

If this theory proves true, then the Backlash booking between Rhodes and Lesnar would tend to make a lot more sense. In their Backlash match, Rhodes busted Lesnar open by means of the exposed turnbuckle. WWE doesn't have much intentional blood use anymore, so this surprised many. Many thought this was just favoritism toward Lesnar. But perhaps this was a way, in storyline that is, of bringing out the beginning of a mean streak in Rhodes, who has been more than a squeaky clean babyface since returning to WWE.

Rhodes might need a brutal streak to be believable to beat Reigns. So what better way to do that than to have him beat the most brutal man in WWE in Lesnar?

Lesnar's character is that of a brawling, bruising, German-suplexing man-beast. If at the end of this, he ends up telling Rhodes that he needed him to prepare him to beat Reigns because he was the last one to really dominate the Tribal Chief, it could be an entire turnaround for this storyline, one that gives depth to not only Lesnar but Rhodes as well.

Social media is full of wrestling fantasy bookers. Wrestling fans are never short of armchair booking. But then there are ideas like this that make you want to believe that this is the direction WWE creative is taking. Having Lesnar attacking Rhodes simply because he was mad about him taking his spot on the card is just nonsensical and poor booking. It will make more sense if Rhodes somehow goes on to face Reigns at SummerSlam (wins Money in the Bank?) for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship afterward.