Though WrestleMania 39 is still almost two months away, that hasn't stopped Cody Rhodes from going on a bit of a media tour to help promote his main event spot with Roman Reigns, and after six months on the shelf, “The American Nightmare” has a lot to say. Want WWE to bring back the Winged Eagle belt? Rhodes does too. Is GUNTHER going to be a massive star in WWE for years to come? Rhodes thinks so too, and he wants to wrestle him in Europe. Heck, Rhodes has multiple interesting tidbits about Logan Paul, including from a stop on his Impaulsive podcast.
Is Rhodes gearing up to become the new face of WWE and is using this pre-Mania period as a sort of trial run for his eventual reign? Most likely, but that doesn't mean he isn't blind to the other storylines involving The Fed's current “Head of the Table,” Reigns, who has a date with Sami Zayn in Montreal, Quebec, Canada at Elimination Chamber before he heads out to Hollywood for two nights at SoFi Stadium. When asked about Zayn's current storyline with Reigns, Rhodes complimented the “Underdog from the Underground” for working a parallel storyline with his against the current top guy in the WWE.
“I love that you bring it up that these stories are running parallel, I think sometimes wrestling fans think it’s got to one or it’s got to me the other, whereas I subscribe – and I’m not in charge – I subscribe to give them everything,” Rhodes said. “That’s where it really takes smart planners and creative individuals on how you layer it, but it’s very important and this is something I learned when I was away, is that if someone’s doing great, and they are entertaining and helping move that ship forward – and I would say Seth Rollins is another example on Raw was another when I was gone who’s really changed and continued to carry Raw on his back. I was fully expecting these things to converge, and I’m still expecting them to converge just because we have these wonderful options.”
Alright, nothing too controversial there, even if Rhodes' storyline with Reigns is about a week old, it is interesting to see how Paul “Triple H” Levesque has found ways to keep multiple irons in the fire. What Rhodes said next, however, will raise some eyebrows.
Cody Rhodes doesn't think WWE WrestleMania 39 needs The Rock.
Turning his attention to the match many fans expected to main event at least one night of WrestleMania 39, Reigns-Rock I, Rhodes definitively declared that WWE's current storylines make on-roster options better than a build-less legacy match.
“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,” Rhodes said. “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. 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.”
Will Rhodes' match against Rigns outshine The Rock, or even Zayn, the “current superstar” many fans are still hoping ends up in the main event of WrestleMania 39 one way or another? Or will the immeasurable weight of the match's expectations lead to some wondering whether or not the match would have been better with Dwayne Johnson or even Zayn featured in the ring? Either way, it's clear Rhodes is taking this opportunity head-on, talking a whole lot of smack and hoping that in the end, the goodwill he generated coming back to WWE after a run on the indies and in AEW will take him to new heights.
Follow Us
Subscribe