Why Cody Rhodes, Not The Rock, Ought to Battle Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 40

Cody Rhodes cannot end his story till he dethrones Roman Reigns as undisputed WWE common champion, ideally at WrestleMania 40.

Rumors of Reigns dealing with The Rock as a substitute in a long-awaited ‘Mania-worthy showdown—fueled by Rock’s latest look on The Pat McAfee Show—would get in the way in which of that.

The Nice One confirmed the competition was near taking place at this previous yr’s installment in Los Angeles and teased it lastly coming to fruition this yr in Philadelphia. In that case, it might be in direct battle with the anticipated Reigns vs. Rhodes rematch on that very same present.

Between the 2 marquee matches, Rhodes vs. Reigns needs to be thought of the upper precedence over Rock vs. Reigns. WWE and Rock missed their likelihood to ebook the latter for WrestleMania 39, however not paying off the previous on the subsequent April extravaganza could be much more egregious.

Regardless of what The Rock says, The American Nightmare is the one acceptable opponent for Reigns at WrestleMania 40. This is why.

To deal with the plain, WWE shouldn’t run the chance of getting Reigns face each Rock and Rhodes on separate nights over WrestleMania weekend.

This might entail Rock vs. Reigns taking place on Evening 1, and Rhodes vs. Reigns taking place on Evening 2. Nonetheless, it is extraordinarily unlikely WWE would slot Rock’s in-ring return for the primary night time with it being the larger box-office attraction of the night time.

Rhodes ending Reigns’ near-four-year title run is just too large of a second to be relegated to Evening 2. Reigns then beating Rock on Evening 2—the inevitable consequence—could be extremely anticlimactic as compared.

Reigns has already headlined the final three WrestleMania occasions, successful on all three events. Having him headline each Evening 1 and Evening 2 subsequent yr would take well-earned alternatives away from different women and men on the roster.

A Triple Menace could be a worse concept, for these questioning. Rock and Rhodes haven’t any motive to cross paths and one story shouldn’t come on the expense of the opposite.

The one different choice could be for Rhodes vs. Reigns to be bumped as much as the Royal Rumble, the place The American Nightmare can take the title and unlock The Tribal Chief for Rock at WrestleMania 40.

It is attainable, however Rock vs. Reigns would routinely be a much bigger attraction than something Rhodes is doing and that unfairly diminishes the distinguished prize.

Followers had been excited to see Rock return on the September 15 version of SmackDown and understandably so. It marked his first look on WWE TV in nearly 4 years, and the electrical energy and buzz he brings to any enviornment is palpable.

The percentages of that second taking place if the SAG-AFSTRA strike had already ended are slim to none.

That strike may very well be over quickly, with the Author’s Guild of America just lately reaching a tentative deal to return to Hollywood, per SAG-AFSTRA. In different phrases, it is all however confirmed that Rock will resume appearing effectively earlier than ‘Mania season will get underway, thus limiting his schedule significantly.

It is not merely a matter of holding WrestleMania weekend open, both. The Nice One would wish to decide to doing the match months upfront so WWE can start getting ready from a reserving standpoint and so he can endure the right bodily coaching.

Along with The Present of Reveals itself, he would additionally want to point out up on tv not less than a couple of instances to correctly construct the bout and work together with Reigns. Slicing promos solely by way of satellite tv for pc is not going to suffice.

With how hectic his schedule appears to be always, that is probably not possible.

Reigns beating Rhodes to retain the Undisputed WWE Common Championship at WrestleMania 39 was not unanimously despised by followers at that time, however looking back, it was the flawed name.

The Tribal Chief adopted a part-time schedule beginning within the spring of 2022, however he made extra appearances on WWE TV and defended the title extra continuously after WrestleMania 38 than he has following WrestleMania 39.

He was in motion at Evening of Champions and Cash within the Financial institution, however his sole title protection since ‘Mania occurred at SummerSlam the place he defeated Jey Uso. Per Dave Metlzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, he is not anticipated to compete once more till Crown Jewel in early November.

In the meantime, Rhodes has been lively this complete time, even having a feud with Brock Lesnar that may have benefited from some gold being up for grabs. He is been left to tread water till WWE is prepared for him and Reigns to rekindle their rivalry subsequent yr.

Rhodes’ loss to Reigns was pointless and merely delayed the inevitable. The one applicable clarification is the challenger successful the rematch with the champion one yr later at WrestleMania and kicking off his long-overdue title run there.

Nobody can argue Rock vs. Reigns will promote extra tickets to WrestleMania 40 than Rhodes vs. Reigns. WWE is underneath new administration after the latest merger with Endeavor and UFC, and the higher-ups might push the corporate to go along with Rock vs. Reigns as the primary occasion of ‘Mania for that motive alone.

The largest downside with the marquee match is that, in any case this time, it might be nearly not possible for it to dwell as much as the hype.

WWE followers are effectively conscious that Reigns can ship when it issues most, irrespective of how sporadic his matches are. The query is whether or not Rock would be capable of maintain his personal, particularly after getting injured in his final two contests (not counting the six-second squash from WrestleMania 32) towards John Cena.

Each bouts had been over a decade in the past. It might find yourself being a stable, well-worked match, however Rhodes vs. Reigns has all of the makings of an on the spot traditional, and the promos main as much as the occasion could be equally entertaining.

Furthermore, it is no secret Rock would lose if it had been a one-and-done, and his schedule is such that it must be. Whereas discussing the potential for the match years in the past on his YouTube channel, he stated he’d be honored to place over his cousin.

That takes away many of the drama, whereas Reigns vs. Rhodes II might go both means.

Rock had his final true hurrah in his three-year storyline with John Cena that spanned three installments of WrestleMania from 2011 to 2013. He put the franchise participant over and raised his hand in the long run, successfully passing the torch.

Something after that for The Brahma Bull would have been the icing on the cake. His fast squash win over Erick Rowan at WrestleMania 32 was a pleasing shock, however he hasn’t competed in any other case as a result of he cannot afford getting damage attributable to his Hollywood commitments.

If Rock vs. Reigns was going to occur, it might have years in the past. They’ll nonetheless generate income collectively in 2023, however that ship sailed earlier this yr after they could not provide you with one thing unprecedented for the feud, per Rock in his interview with Pat McAfee.

In brief, he has nothing left to show. Beating Rock would solely add to Reigns’ already-iconic legacy, however the focus now needs to be on making extra stars and cementing Rhodes because the full-time face of WWE.

The corporate has one likelihood to provide a monumental second with whoever unseats Reigns as champion after nearly 4 years. Rhodes checks all of the containers, and WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia is the place to tug the set off.

Rock vs. Reigns doesn’t want a title on the road, and WWE can maintain off till WrestleMania 41 if it so chooses. No matter whether or not that household affair materializes or not, Rhodes vs. Reigns is the WrestleMania foremost occasion that can really alter the panorama endlessly.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, has specialised in sports activities and leisure writing since 2010. Go to his web site, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for extra wrestling-related content material.