What’s Next for Cody Rhodes After Finishing the Story
After over a year of chasing the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, Cody Rhodes has finally stamped the last line of his story. In an eventful Night Two of WrestleMania, Rhodes took on Roman Reigns for the second straight year. Rhodes fell short of the title at the main event during WrestleMania 39 and after a year’s wait and a Royal Rumble win to get back in this position, he fully climbed the ladder. The story leading up to the match was perfectly scripted with the years-long Bloodline saga, creating a heated split between the two opponents. In an electric no disqualification match with surprise guests on both sides, the main event brought everything it had to the screen to finish off the biggest event of the WWE calendar.
With the match under Bloodline rules, Rhodes seemed to be against the odds. At first, it was the two superstars battling with weapons, submission, and even taking the fight into the crowd. Once things started to look good for Rhodes, here’s where everything hit the wall. Jimmy Uso came out and sabotaged Rhodes, yet was speared by his twin brother Jey in retaliation. As the match started to flip in Rhodes’ favor, out came Solo Sikoa to even the playing field. With both sides receiving help, the legends were summoned to give the WWE Universe quite a surprise.
First came John Cena who delivered an attitude adjustment to the champion Reigns and an even more grandiose attack to Sikoa, attitude adjusting him through the broadcasting table. With Cena helping Rhodes, out came The Rock for an epic faceoff between the two legends, where Cena was hit with a Rock Bottom. Seth Rollins tried to intervene with a chair shot during the commotion, but Reigns saved the Rock with a Superman punch. Finally, the last entrant sent the crowd into a frenzy with the singular sound of a bell and a pitch-black arena- The Undertaker was back. After two bells the lights came on and Undertaker was behind the Rock to finish him with a chokeslam. This left Rhodes and Reigns alone in the ring again, where Rhodes bested Reigns with three Cross Rhodes and a pinfall to finish the story.
At the beginning of WrestleMania 40, Triple H declared that it was a new era in the WWE. With Roman Reigns as the face of the company for the last decade, partnered with The Rock, the WWE looks to take on a whole new look. Once Rhodes pinned Reigns center stage with the rest of the Bloodline knocked out on the sides of the ring, the WWE picked its new quarterback. It’s now time for “The American Nightmare” to headline a positive and exciting era.
Rhodes has admitted that the Roman Reigns era is a tough one to follow, but acknowledged that it takes a leader of the locker room to continue the special work- a role which he now headlines. The belt change signifies a different leadership from the “heel” side of the Bloodline to the biggest face in the business. He has a good supporting cast that sent him off to a new level of stardom, with Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, John Cena, and the Undertaker helping him start his title reign. Although Rhodes has never held a major title, there is major potential to be the next generation’s version of a John Cena-like star. Rhodes has spent the last two years winning the crowd over and making his late father proud with his spectacular deliveries and engaging storylines. The WWE spent so much time and energy into Rhodes finishing the story, that another complete story is expected to come. As the top dog, acknowledged by many of his fellow peers, there is not too much competition to come in the way of Rhodes. His title reign should be a good one and should hold until another dispute with Reigns comes or a drastic flip from a major star like Seth Rollins is on the rise. Until another major storyline begins, all we know for now is that Rhodes ended the reign of Reigns 1,316 days later, and a new era did indeed begin.
