After spending the week advertising a big promo where Cody Rhodes would address the WWE Universe about his desire to wrestle Brock Lesnar once more, the “American Nightmare” took the ring during the third hour of RAW to lay out his exact intentions to the thousands of fine folks in Buffalo, the millions more fans watching from home, and one fan in particular somewhere in Saskatchewan.

“So Buffalo, what do you guys wanna talk about? I know on the other side of that lens, there are millions of people, if you’re sitting at home watching, forgive me, indulge me; I’m going to turn my back ever so briefly because I wanna see everybody here, tonight. I see you. I see you, and hopefully, you see me; sometimes, it can seem like there’s this invisible wall between the seats and where I stand in the ring. But for me, it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like you’re in the ring with me, and I know that’s a dangerous place, so thank you very much. But the reason it feels like that, it doesn’t feel performative, is because what I am telling you and what I have been telling you I returned is real. And we’re not just talking career goals, we’re talking life goals,” Cody Rhodes said.

“You know, the other day I was in the United Kingdom, and a man asked me at a press event, he said ‘How do you feel about your momentum?’ This question has haunted me, as my answer has as well. I answered honestly, politely, a bit cagey. I cited all of you, the WWE Universe,  I cited the fans; I said, hey, look, every city is sold out. Every crowd is louder and louder. Every metric that you could judge e by, I’m right there, I’m doing okay. But Eddie persisted, and why my answer bothered me so much, I would have told him, ‘Okay, my momentum in the ring is a little bit shakey,’ and the reason it’s shaky is because of the mountain that stands in front of me, a mountain that I cannot go over, I cannot go under, I cannot go around; you either go through it or you don’t go at all. I think you know what I’m referring to, who I’m referring to: Brock Lesnar.”

After taking a surprise beating from “The Beast” when he was about to address Seth Rollins regarding the WWE Heavyweight Championship on the previous edition of RAW, Rhodes understandably had a thing or two to say about Lesnar and how he chose to handle his business but what fans likely didn't expect was for the “American Nightmare” to get candid about his own desires to get over the hump and become the sort of star his family would be proud of.

Cody Rhodes has a bold reason for wanting a rubber match with Brock Lesnar.

Facing down his own personal “Beast” head-on, Cody Rhodes explained that every fan of professional wrestling has their own version of Brock Lesnar; they, like he, just need to have the courage to conquer them.

“Brock Lesnar is not here tonight, he didn’t think Buffalo was worth the trip. He surprised me last we, and I’m told he will be here next week, but here is my discovery about Mr. Lesnar: everybody has a Brock Lesnar. Everybody. You name it; fear of heights? Brock Lesnar. Crippling anxiety? Brock Lesnar. Student debt? Brock Lesnar. Your terrible boss? Brock Lesnar. I watched a woman in the Georgia marathon 10 feet from the finish line, took a wrong turn. Brock Lesnar. We all have a Brock Lesnar; that’s the ring that is impeding us from the most important step we can take, albeit my Brock Lesnar is 6-foot-3, 285-pound walking billboard for Darwinism and natural selection,” Rhodes said.

“What’s that quote, right? ‘Some men see things the way they are and say why and others, others dream things they’ve never seen and say why not?’ I want to be the latter because what I dream of is a rubber match at SummerSlam. Brock Lesnar, nothing would make me happier than next week if you came to this ring, if you shook my hand, if you knew that this wasn’t personal if you honored me by being my opponent at SummerSlam. And even if you don’t shake my hand, we’re going to play the same game; I’m going to pop you in the side of the ear, I’m going to hit you with chairs, I’m going to pick up steps. I’m going to finish the chapter that you started for no d**n reason. The reason is simple: why would I want another match with Brock Lesnar? Why do I have to have another match with Brock Lesnar? It’s because what comes from that fight. It’s because what comes from that fight, what emerges from that cloud of dust, is simple; that guy is the next in line. And the prince doesn’t want to be the prince forever; I wanna be, I will be the next in line.”

Will Lesnar accept Rhodes' challenge? Almost definitely so; the rubber match between Lesnar and Rhodes has been rumored for months now, and there might even be a special stipulation to really spice it up. How WWE choses to handle the situation moving forward, however, could play a serious part in getting Rhodes' momentum back on track as he hopefully takes his spot as next in line for presumably Roman  Reigns' Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.