Many fans were shocked after Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 39 on Sunday night. Fans believed this was the perfect time for somebody to dethrone Roman Reigns and wanted it to be Rhodes. After seeing Rhodes lose, fans wonder what this means for him moving forward.
Since returning to WWE at WrestleMania last year, the story has been built around Cody Rhodes potentially being the one to dethrone Roman Reigns. Reigns has been the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion for a year and has held the Universal Championship for 940+ days. Roman Reigns also hasn't been pinned since December 2019. He has genuinely been untouchable since returning to the company at SummerSlam in 2020. There is nobody on Roman Reigns' level right now, not even Cody Rhodes.
During the WrestleMania 39 post-show press conference, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H explained why Cody Rhodes lost to Roman Reigns. He says it's because the story isn't over yet.
“Maybe for a lot of people, a shocking outcome, right?” Triple H said. “What I will say about that is, it’s always interesting to me when people say, ‘how can that happen?’ or ‘how can they do that’ in that moment? And it’s almost perfectly spelled out in this story. ‘I need to finish the story.’ In the WWE, the story never finishes. Tomorrow night on Raw, at a sold-out Crypto.com Arena, the story continues. The story takes another chapter. We just got to the end of the chapter. The story continues and that’s where this gets interesting to me. So that is what is the most amazing thing about our business, the story never ends.
Triple H would say that despite losing, Rhodes earned his place at the top of this business. Although fans are upset Rhodes didn't walk out of WrestleMania as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, they should be encouraged to hear that from him.
“To see that journey and see him go through all those things is incredibly strong and an incredibly tough journey, and an incredibly strong person to do that. To do that in this business is really difficult, and he’s done it and tonight, if anything, he proved and earned his place at the top of this business.”
The beauty of wrestling is how unpredictable it is. You never truly know what will happen in the world of professional wrestling. The stars were aligning perfectly for Cody Rhodes to be the man to finally dethrone Roman Reigns. Fans were dead set on Rhodes walking out of WrestleMania as the new face of WWE. But at the end of the night, it was Roman Reigns who walked out victorious with both championships.
Cody Rhodes' loss is setting up the perfect redemption story for him. Since returning to WWE, Rhodes has been talking about “finishing the story.” Although he lost to Reigns, Rhodes' story did not end at WrestleMania 39. It was just the end of this chapter.
Cody Rhodes was never going to defeat Roman Reigns. Rhodes was just another part of Roman Reigns' story. WWE wasn't going to have Rhodes defeat their top superstar and end his historic championship reign after only being back for a year. People may disagree, but Rhodes hasn't struggled enough. He had an incredible trilogy with Seth Rollins and won the Royal Rumble, but he hasn't endured enough to be the man to dethrone Reigns.
The next chapter for Cody Rhodes will start on Monday Night Raw. What's next for Rhodes following his loss to Roman Reigns? Will he stay in the main event picture and go after The Bloodline for interfering in his match? Will WWE set him up to feud with another top-tier star and get him away from The Bloodline for the time being? We haven't Rhodes feud with too many superstars since his return. Perhaps WWE will continue to build up Cody Rhodes by having him battle against some of WWE's biggest stars. He had his incredible feud with Rollins, but after he tore his pec and returned at the Royal Rumble, he was immediately thrown into a feud with Roman Reigns.
Rhodes needs more matches and relevant feuds before winning a World Championship. Some people may not agree, but it never made sense for him to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship after having only a handful of matches since returning. Right now, at the moment, maybe it did make sense, but not in the long run. Rhodes will get his moment in due time, but it was too early for him to win the big one.
Plus, having an outsider come in and win the biggest title against the biggest star in the company may not have sat well with some superstars backstage. Rhodes needs more time to prove he belongs in WWE and earn the respect of his peers. Fans may disagree, but Rhodes being handed the World Championship isn't best for business. Roman Reigns has been carrying WWE for years. To have him lose to Rhodes in his first-ever World Championship match wouldn't have been a great look.
The story between Rhodes and Reigns needs more than a few months to build up. This could be a slow build to Rhodes eventually winning the championship his father never won. If he finally defeats Reigns, that moment will feel more significant than if he were to beat him at WrestleMania 39.
It was sad to see Cody Rhodes lose since it would have been an incredible moment, but don't worry about Rhodes: his time will come.
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