As Cody Rhodes challenges Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, he will have the chance to finally realise his ambition of winning the WWE Championship. The American Nightmare, however, did not start out with this in mind. For the WWE championship, he was scheduled to face Seth Rollins or Drew McIntyre on Night One, with Roman Reigns taking on The Rock the next night.
WWE made an effort to book The Rock for a match at WrestleMania this year. The experience of Cody Rhodes at “Mania” would have been extremely different if the megastar had accepted. The former AEW TNT Champion challenged Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title after winning the 2023 Royal Rumble battle. According to the reports, The Rock forced WWE to alter their initial plans for Rhodes.
The Rock’s return informed a lot of the company’s actions. The Brahma Bull, however, declined to take part in this year’s WrestleMania. It’s unclear whether the Usos bout will take place on night one, but Meltzer recalled that the night one main event was originally planned to be the creation of a second World Title between Rollins, Drew McIntyre, or Rhodes (Rhodes would be in this if The Rock was facing Reigns).
Roman Reigns’ storyline
Since his return to the WWE at last year’s WrestleMania, Cody Rhodes has made it obvious that he has only one objective in mind. Becoming the WWE Champion was his main motivation for rejoining the organisation. Roman Reigns’ storyline has made a point of showing how he would never be as successful in the WWE as Reigns was.
On The Bump, Cody said the following: “If I’m able to cross the finish line, the biggest WrestleMania of all time, SoFi, in Hollywood, if I’m able to cross the finish line and obtain these things, which, as I stated, have eluded my family thus far… It would be entertaining to simply say, “Let’s just boil them down and bring back the Winged Eagle.”
Perhaps this is just a pipe dream or a fleeting thought. It has been more than 900 days since Roman Reigns first won the title. It’s a common misconception that WWE wants him to hold the title for 1000 consecutive days. To see a new champion crowned at WrestleMania, however, is what the fans want, and they support The American Nightmare.
