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With WrestleMania 40 officially upon us, Cody Rhodes will have to sit through 11 matches with various lengths, weights, and qualities before he gets to take on Roman Reigns in a WrestleMania 39 rematch for the ages with the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt on the line.
But just because a Royal Rumble win back in January guaranteed the “American Nightmare,” the ultimate main event for the second year in a row doesn't mean that he can take Night 1 off, as he'll have to survive a matchup against Reigns and The Rock alongside Seth Rollins in a match many believes could go down as one of the all-time greats.
Discussing his very busy weekend at WrestleMania 40 in a special panel at World of WrestleMania, Rhodes noted that he can't overlook The Rock on Night 1, as doing so could be incredibly detrimental.
“It's tricky because it's new to me in terms of two nights of WrestleMania, wrestling both nights, again, cold-weather matches. It's tricky because I am only thinking about Night 1,” Cody Rhodes told WWE fans via Fightful. “I know a lot of people and everyone I talk to and everyone backstage, and running into so many wonderful fans, a lot of people are talking about Night Two, and that match with Roman Reigns and that moment with Roman Reigns. I am just thinking about Night 1. So I'm not gonna stand up here and give you the Joe Namath guarantee on anything, but I will say it would be absolutely an uphill battle like no uphill battle before because every match has essentially been a Bloodline Rules match, so just adding that stipulation to it alone, I wouldn't want to know what that looks like.”
While Rhodes and Rollins would obviously like to roll into WrestleMania 40 Night 2 with the momentum of a massive win at their backs, do we really know that Bloodline Rules puts the “American Nightmare” at a disadvantage? Who knows, maybe The Rock and Reigns will get into it in the match on Night 1, and by the time the main event of Night 2 rolls around, the Rock could be back by Rhodes' side as the confidant he originally claimed to be all those weeks ago after the Royal Rumble. All things considered, stranger things have happened, especially when it comes to The Bloodline.
Cody Rhodes believes WWE is in the Renaissance era.
WWE is clearly in a new era under Paul “Triple H” Levesque, but what is it called, the Attitude Era 2.0? Well, in an interview with Fox Digital, Cody Rhodes presented his suggestion and the rationale behind it.
“I've heard it coined as the Renaissance Era, and I really like that outlook on it. For me, as a wrestler, I'm most excited that we no longer have to stand in the shadow of the Attitude Era because of the last two years we've done better business than they ever did — and they did exceptional, unbelievable, amazing business. I'm only making comparisons on a black and white level, dollars and cents, in terms of what WWE's been able to do over the last two years,” Cody Rhodes told Fox Digital via Fightful.
“I mentioned Renaissance because of all the things we're trying, the changing of the programming and also the characters. They now appeal differently. Every year has its signature thing. There was Hulkamania — eat your vitamins and say your prayers. There was the Attitude Era — the (Jerry) Springer-type crash TV. Now, we have a more, reach-across-the-aisle and connect-to-the-audience-type relatable Superstars. We still have larger than life, no doubt, but that's all going into this very, like I said, Renaissance Era.”
The Rock, too, was asked to name this current era of WWE by ESPN, to which he had a far less sophisticated term he'd like to see used moving forward.
“A lot of people have called this, ‘Oh, the Attitude Era is back.' What I have called this era, excuse my language, the F**k That Era,” The Rock told ESPN via Fightful. “That's what this means and that's what the Final Boss means. You expect me to do one thing, you think it's got to be like this, well f**k that, I'm not doing it like that. The Final Boss isn't doing it like that. What's also interesting is, what we have found is, the reason why people have gravitated towards Rock 10.0, Final Boss is, I'm able to say things that people want to say, that they can't say. Let the Final Boss say it.”
So which moniker will stick, Rhodes' or The Rock's? Well, there's an old adage that “To the victor goes the spoils,” so by the end of WrestleMania weekend, fans might just get their answer depending on who holds the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship on Monday Night RAW.
Cody Rhodes says this is the “Renaissance Era”
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) April 3, 2024
