After finally securing his clean WWE win over Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes decided to celebrate his efforts, dedication, and unending will to become a babyface champion in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he kicked off a commercial-free hour of RAW with one of his patented promos.
But first, in true Rhodes fashion, the “American Nightmare” had one simple question for fans in the stadium who once threw his weight belt back into the ring.
“So Minneapolis, what do you wanna talk about? I think let's talk about one of your own; I think let's talk about the beast who had his claws sharpened here, that was educated here, that became champion here. The University of Minnesota's own Brock Lesnar! I have had the privilege, I have had the honor, I have had the misery of standing across from the ‘Beast' and surviving Brock, that's one thing; what happened next, I could never imagine,” Cody Rhodes told the crowd before his SummerSlam highlights played on the Titantron.
“I had a conversation with my mother, mi madre, this morning I shared my shock at this exact moment and she said to me, she said ‘Dummy, don't you know what just happened? Brock Lesnar acknowledged you.' After SummerSlam, I feel on top of the world; after Summerslam I feel like I could beat anybody in the world.”
This assertion didn't sit too well with Seth Rollins, who marched down to the ring with his WWE World Heavyweight Champion to take issue with the suggestion that Rhodes could “beat anyone in the world.”
“Minneapolis, welcome to Monday Night Rollins! The last time I came out here to address the future of the World Heavyweight Championship, you were the first man to walk down the aisle and get in my face. So consider this me returning the favor,” Seth Rollins said.
“Now did I hear you right when you said you feel like you can beat anyone in the world? Well, if that's the case, why don't we put that feeling to the test?”
Though this staredown was interrupted too, this time by The Judgement Day in an extended conversation that led to trios match booked for the main match between Rollins, Rhodes, and Sami Zayn versus Finn Balor, Damian Priest, and Dominik Mysterio, the groundwork was set: at some point in the future, Rhodes and Rollins are going to wrestle for a third time in this run and believe you me, it's going to be glorious.
Who would DARE interrupt these two?!#WWERaw pic.twitter.com/sz3KhbQyQ1
— WWE (@WWE) August 8, 2023
Sami Zayn attempts to get Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins back on the same side.
After agreeing to a trios match at the end of the opening segment of RAW, Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins continued their beefing backstage, with the latter taking issue with the former talking to his friend Sami Zayn.
“Oh so you're back here talking strategy behind my back?” Rollins asked Rhodes. “Yeah I want the match, but I don't want to be on a team with you.”
Having clearly heard enough, Zayn interjected, hoping to figure out a way to get his tag team partners back on the same page.
“Guys, guys, guys, look, let's all take a breath here. I know there's history here, I know there's tension here, I know there's a lot of… there's just a lot. I don't expect you guys to solve all of your problems overnight here but we have a chance to do something tonight,” Zayn noted. “I don't know about you, Seth but I am tired of dealing with The Judgment Day. I have been dealing with them for months, you have been dealing with them for months. Now they put my Undisputed Tag Team Championships in jepordy. They injured my tag team partner, your friend Kevin Owens, your friend Kevin Owens; he's on the shelf now because of them. Now we have a chance, the three of us, three of the very best, to stand side by side, all three of us, and deal with The Judgment Day once and for all. So can we do it? Can we get past whatever's going on here? Are we cool? ”
While Rollins and Rhodes both said that things were cool, Zayn certainly didn't think that was the case, as he noted that things certainly “don't feel cool,” before new RAW commentator Wade Barrett noted that things definitively aren't cool.
For Zayn, the tag team champion finds himself in a tough spot, as he has two friends who really don't get along, and as a result, he doesn't want to take sides one way or another. Will this eventually come to a head? Maybe yes, maybe no, but it feels more likely that they will still be soft-feuding on the same team at Survivor Series than duking it out in the ring any time soon. Buckle in, WWE fans.
Will @CodyRhodes and @WWERollins be able to COEXIST tonight on #WWERaw? pic.twitter.com/ZBE564LDux
— WWE (@WWE) August 8, 2023
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