9 months ago
23 ARTICLE AD
WWE
Cody Rhodes will not finish his story at WWE WrestleMania 40, that much has seemingly been confirmed. The back-to-back Royal Rumble winner closed the January event calling his shot at Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, promising to finally capture the title that had eluded his late father and avenge his loss at WrestleMania 39.
Alas, "WWE SmackDown" saw Rhodes effectively step aside for a new challenger, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. With Rhodes' story set to extend beyond WrestleMania whether he wins his rumored World Heavyweight Championship bout with Seth Rollins or not, PWInsider reported an update on when fans can expect the book to close at last. In fact, despite it looking as though Rhodes was primed to prevail at WrestleMania, there were reportedly open discussions within WWE about him picking up Rollins' World Heavyweight Championship on the "Grandest Stage," leading into a title unification match with the winner of Reigns vs. Rock at SummerSlam 2024.
Rhodes' "story" was the term coined for his journey to capture the WWE Championhip, especially prudent considering his father had not only never held it, but had come painfully close to winning it at Madison Square Garden. Rhodes would be winning his first world title with the promotion should he dethrone Rollins, but that belt holds no direct lineage to the title that had eluded his father. Ergo, he won't have finished the story that has been laid out until he dethrones "The Tribal Chief." Reigns unified the Universal title — established in 2016 — with the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 38 against Brock Lesnar.
