Though WrestleMania 39 has been in the proverbial books for almost two months, fans, wrestlers, and WWE Hall of Famers have remained fiercely engaged on the topic of Paul “Triple H” Levesque's decision to keep the belt on Roman Reigns and leave Cody Rhodes sitting in the center of the ring with his story still unfinished… and a rubber chicken to add insult to injury.

To some, the booking was borderline unforgivable; forget getting Reigns to 1,000 days as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Reigns had finally found an opponent worth dropping the strap to, and the WWE Universe was beyond ready to usher in a new era with “The American Nightmare” on top. A new slate of matches suddenly opened up, the titles would be defended on television with more regularity, and fans who show up to house shows might actually get to see WWE's top guy in person, instead of being offered refunds because of a clerical error.

And yet, in the opinion of others, including arguably the number one WWE Superstar of all time, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the decision was the right call, as it helped to keep everyone on the right path towards an even bigger payoff down the line. Speaking with Busted Open Radio about that very opinion, the “Texas Rattlesnake” noted that not only was it the right call to keep Reigns on top, but it would have actually hurt Rhodes to have won the belt, as you don't make stars by ending reigns at the wrong time.

“Cody beating Roman would not have gotten Cody over anymore. As a matter of fact, it might have worked against him,” Austin said via Fightful. “The way they had it set up, he showed the belt, his wife and beautiful baby are there, he's holding the baby, and it's a storybook ending, and the story is told. Those guys came out there with the outside interference. Like I've said before, I love that spike from Solo Sikoa. Sami, Kevin, Jimmy, Jey, it was chaos, it was exciting. They built it up and had a h*ll of a match. Roman is on fire right now, and one of these days, it will be time to take the belt from him and put it on somebody else, but you don't make Cody by taking the belt off the right guy at the wrong time.”

Whoa, giving Rhodes the rub at WrestleMania would have been the wrong time? Why? Fortunately for fans, Austin decided to weigh in on that very situation and explained his reasoning a little deeper.

Cody Rhodes winning at WrestleMania 39 would have been cliche.

So why, in the opinion of Austin, was WrestleMania 39 the wrong time for “The Grandson of a Plummer” to become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion? Well, it's simple, really: it would have been cliche.

“I completely thought they made the right decision. I really respect the h*ll out of Cody for what he did walking away from WWE, found himself, went down to AEW, and then came back,” Austin said. “He gets injured, blows out a pec, competes in the Rumble, gets in the main event with Roman. It was so storybook, and would have been so cliche to put the belt on him more so. Has he earned the opportunity to be there? Yeah. Would he have been the right guy, right now, trying to take out Roman Reigns? I just think not. Roman is so fire and so money. Cody is going to be there. To me, it made me respect Cody more when you're laying there and looking at the lights. That story is going to be completed one of these days, but it ain't going to be right here. It was for the right reasons, and the reason was business. He'll get it, and when he does, it'll be a celebration like no other. I'm one of his biggest fans. I see nothing but good things for Cody.”

Was it cliche for Rhodes to tear his pec, still compete in a five-star match at Hell in a Cell, work his way back for six months to an eventual win at the Royal Rumble, and then fight for three months both in the ring and on the mic towards the biggest match of his career, or was that more the wrestling gods handing Triple H the ball at the one-yard line, even if he pulled a Seattle Seahawks and refused to simply punch it in for the east touchdown? Fans may never know, but if Austin is correct, WWE has to craft an even more perfect storyline for Rhodes' eventual victory, as it needs to surpass that storyline setup.