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By announcing the new World Heavyweight Championship, WWE extensively handed themselves an out; an opportunity to have their Cody Rhodes cake and eat it two.
At WrestleMania 39, Paul “Triple H” Levesque had a chance to turn “The American Nightmare” into a certified star; the moment was there, 80,000 fans were cheering “The Grandson of a Plumber” along, and had the belt changed, Rhodes would have been on Good Morning America the next morning, discussing his accomplishments and assuring parents that he was going to be a champion they could be proud of. Instead, WWE decided to keep the strap on Reigns in the pursuit of a 1,000-day title reign and allowed Rhodes to lay face-up on the mat next to a rubber chicken.
But hey, it's cool; Rhodes has a chance to compete for a new strap moving forward, as, now that Reigns has been drafted onto SmackDown, he and the rest of the RAW roster are eligible to go after the new World Heavyweight Championship, which will be decided in a tournament finished off at Night of Champions at the end of May. Asked about this new strap in an interview with ComicBook Nation, Rhodes acknowledged why Triple H christened the strap and even suggested that he would be gunning for the belt.
“Triple H being the coach here and calling the shots and making it clear that this World Heavyweight Championship — which just from a fan of belts, the physical belts historically and all the nods and things that were done. You know, the lions and pieces of old titles kind of strewn onto this hunking piece of metal that Triple H unveiled. As a fan of classic titles, it’s definitely something that piqued my interest,” Cody Rhodes said via F4W.
“That’s the title that represents Raw. That’s the title that main events Raw. That’s the title that is the franchise title for the USA Network. So I can’t say I don’t want it. I can’t say that that’s not something that would be, if you look and revise your goals and say, okay, this is the route we have to go, especially particularly with me being drafted to Monday Night Raw. And that might be more of a case of like I just said, a story, a different story. The goal is still the same for me, but by no means am I or should anyone be looking down on the new World Championship because it’s one of those things I think in time, people will hopefully come to love and revere. It’s being positioned as the lead title for the brand itself and it’ll take a lead individual to do it and handle it. And Raw has a stacked, stacked roster so I definitely wanna throw myself in the mix.”
Welp, that's that, right; Rhodes got a chance at his medal – even if it's bronze – and he'll happily turn his attention away from Reigns in favor of becoming a WWE World Champion, even if it's not the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Not necessarily, as the former leader of the Nightmare Factory isn't letting a short-term opportunity get in the way of his long-term goals.
Cody Rhodes still wants a shot at Roman Reigns, but he first needs to beat Brock.
Despite having a pretty good shot at landing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, a strap that even looks like the belts of his father's generation, Cody Rhodes isn't giving up on taking his shot at the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Still, to get there, he has to first beat “The Beast Incarnate,” Brock Lesnar, at Backlash, which is a task easier said than done.
“I try not to get into the discussion because people still very much, like I am, over how WrestleMania 40 — I mean WrestleMania 39 — ended, a lot of people wonder, how would I look at this?” Rhodes noted. “And I try not to get into the discussion on it because it’s more one of those things where in my mind, the goal hasn’t changed but also other things are gonna come up. You’re gonna confront new — gosh, I can’t believe I’m gonna say this word — ‘adversity.’ And for me right now, that’s Brock Lesnar more than anything. So I can’t even think about that beautiful belt that Triple H showed until I’m able to do something that very few people could ever do. Get into the ring with The Beast. Not just survive but win.”
With Money in the Bank scheduled for before SummerSlam, Rhodes could theoretically parlay a few big wins in May into a spot in the ladder match and, eventually, a contract cash-in on Reigns at the biggest show of the summer. For that to happen, however, Rhdoes needs to best Brock at Backlash, for if he can't beat “The Beast,” how will he be able to defeat a man who has beaten him in four-straight WWE main events?
