The winner of the Royal Rumble is guaranteed a world championship match at WrestleMania. In the past, the road to WrestleMania was pretty simple for whoever won the Royal Rumble match. You pick the world champion of your choosing, and the match is set. This year is a little different, though. Technically Roman Reigns is the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion. Although Reigns has both belts around his shoulders, that doesn't mean he'll always defend them as one. You can't count out Cody Rhodes.
Roman Reigns has defended both belts as one major championship over the past year. As legendary as Reigns' run has been as the Undisputed Universal Champion, it's time to split up the belts. There have been rumors of WWE wanting to split up the belts around WrestleMania, and although there are no signs of it happening now, there is still time for it to happen before the show of shows.
One of the rumored ways that WWE would split up the belts is if Roman Reigns defended one on each night of WrestleMania. This means Reigns would need two opponents for WWE's biggest event of the year. If this were to happen, the other opponent for Roman Reigns would have to be The Rock.
The Rock's name has been tied to Roman Reigns for years now. The rumors of him returning have been ramping up for months, and there's still a tiny chance he does return. Cody Rhodes knows about those rumors but isn't focusing on them whatsoever. While speaking to Alex McCarthy of the Daily Mail, Rhodes says his only focus is WrestleMania and wrestling for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship.
“With all the respect in the world to one of the GOATs, The Rock, it looks like the options we have here within the roster are even better because of the stories that are happening. One story about finishing something that started in 1978 – seven years before I was even born – and another story of really the tragedy of being welcomed into the Bloodline and then what you saw unfolds. I think with the amount of time between now and WrestleMania, it's important I keep my eyes squarely fixed on WrestleMania, squarely wrestling for the WWE Undisputed Championship and as you hinted that may not be against Roman Reigns.”
As much as I would love to see The Rock return, Cody Rhodes has a point. WWE loves bringing back former legends when they need to fill an arena and advertise a major match. The Rock vs. Roman Reigns could be the biggest match in WWE history, but WWE doesn't need it this year. WWE has done so well with their storytelling within the company that they don't need The Rock to return. They have superstars that are strong and popular enough to main event WrestleMania alongside Roman Reigns. Rhodes has all the confidence in the world that he can be that guy to stand toe-to-toe with WWE's best and win the big one.
“Now I don't know if anyone can beat Roman Reigns, I truly don't, but for me, it's about picking up the chip. I love the melodrama, I love the heaviness in these stories that develop in our industry, but I am very simply a man who's looking for a belt. I'm looking for a championship title belt, the most important one in our world the biggest in all – not just in the WWE bubble but in all the bubbles – and be the first to say as a Rhodes I did it. And it wasn't Dusty Rhodes and it wasn't Dustin Rhodes – it was Cody Rhodes.”
The idea of WWE splitting up the Undisputed Universal Championship is fantastic and is something they should do very soon. But the fact of the matter is, they don't have to do it at WrestleMania. I will be upset if Roman Reigns loses his Universal Championship just short of 1,000+ days, but Rhodes needs to win at WrestleMania. The Rock could return to challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship while Rhodes fights solely for the WWE Championship, but that doesn't fit with the current story.
It may be too late for The Rock to return to start a program with Roman Reigns. If WWE still wants to do Reigns vs. Rock, they may have to wait until WrestleMania 40 next year. The only story that needs to be told is two of the biggest names in wrestling history going head-to-head for the right to be named the Head of the Table. WWE shouldn't mess up the current story that's happening. It's been going too well for The Rock to show up and make things more chaotic than it already is.
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