Cody Rhodes’ story may have finished last year at WrestleMania 39, had Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman been unable to influence those in charge at the time. 

Reigns retained the Undisputed WWE Championship against Rhodes in the controversial main event inside Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. The decision was panned by fans at the time as the wrong choice with many blaming McMahon (who’d forced his way back into WWE in January) for the call. 

At one time, Rhodes was penciled into dethrone Reigns in SoFi, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports. That was until Reigns and Heyman convinced both McMahon and WWE CCO Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque to change the finish and give Reigns the victory. 

This change of plans wasn’t (entirely) done to benefit Reigns and extend his title run for another year. The belief at the time was that keeping the gold on Reigns would be beneficial in getting other talent over, including Jey Uso and Solo Sikoa. Jey certainly benefitted from his championship program with Reigns over the Summer which helped elevate the former Tag Team Champion to his ‘Main Event Jey’ role fans see today. 

Holding off on the title change was also proposed to be in Rhodes’ best interest. The idea was that keeping Cody’s hunt for the gold going for another year would make his title win more special. Sure enough, Rhodes’ emotional victory at WrestleMania 40 has been praised by fans and critics. The new Undisputed WWE Champion’s next title defense will be at WWE Backlash: France against AJ Styles. 

• Roman Reigns Remaining Involved With The Bloodline’s Creative Direction During WWE Hiatus

WWE is officially on the “Road to WrestleMania,” and fans wonder if Cody Rhodes will finish his “Story.” Although he is experiencing success in his second stint with the company and is the new cover star for WWE 2K24, Rhodes is still looking to become a WWE Champion. 

In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso, Rhodes discussed the importance of being on the cover of WWE 2K24 and wanting to finish his “Story.” He also admitted to feeling a little overwhelmed when he faced WWE Champion Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 39 last year. 

Barrasso transcribed the following quotes. 

“WrestleMania 39, I don’t want to say I shrunk under the lights, but it hit me harder than it hit Roman Reigns,” said Rhodes. He continued, “Roman has been in those main events before. If anything, it motivated me further. It’s not just about being in the main event. It’s not about being happy to make the walk. You have to win.”

As he prepares for the WWE Royal Rumble on January 27, “The American Nightmare” has imposed a unique ultimatum upon himself.

Cody Rhodes Doesn’t Want To Be On The Next WWE 2K Cover If He Doesn’t Finish His Story

 Although he is happy to be the WWE 2K24 cover star, he doesn’t believe he should be in that position if he doesn’t win the WWE Championship this year. He also joked about not being in next year’s game if he doesn’t accomplish his goal. 

“If I haven’t finished the story by WWE 2K25, don’t bring me back for the commercial,” said Rhodes. “Don’t put me on the cover, don’t put me anywhere near it. I won’t deserve it. But it’s fun that this is happening in real-time, and we all get to experience it together.”

“The American Nightmare” is staying positive and highly motivated to bring the WWE Championship to the Rhodes Family. However, he will have 29 other superstars standing in his way at the WWE Royal Rumble. There is also the rumor that the company could be looking to have The Rock challenge Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 40 in April. 

Regardless, Rhodes has pressured himself to finish his “Story” before the next WWE 2K game. 

Cody Rhodes may have failed to finish the story at WrestleMania 39 earlier this year, but he and Roman Reigns delivered WWE’s best match of the year. 

Earlier this month, WWE kicked off a fan-voted tournament to see what was the best match of the year. The tournament featured the following matches: 

• SummerSlam: Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar
• WrestleMania 39: Rey Mysterio vs Dominik Mysterio
• Payback: Trish Stratus vs Becky Lynch
• WrestleMania 39: Fatal Four-Way Men’s Tag Team Match
• Monday Night RAW: Chad Gable vs Gunther
• WrestleMania 39: Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair
• Money In The Bank: The Usos vs Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns
• WrestleMania 39: Drew McIntyre vs Gunther vs Sheamus
• Backlash: Bad Bunny vs Damian Priest
• NXT Deadline: Men’s Iron Survivor Match
• WrestleMania 39: Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes
• Crown Jewel: Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre
• Backlash: IYO Sky vs Bianca Belair
• Elimination Chamber: Sami Zayn vs Roman Reigns
• WrestleMania 39: The Usos vs Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens
• NXT No Mercy: Carmelo Hayes vs Ilja Dragunov

In the end, the finals saw two matches featuring WWE’s American Nightmare. The finals were between Rhodes’ WrestleMania 39 match with Reigns and his SummerSlam 2023 showdown with Brock Lesnar. 

What’s Next?

Cody Rhodes is currently feuding with Shinsuke Nakamura, who has been able to mist Rhodes multiple times. Cody will compete in next month’s Men’s Royal Rumble match. If he wins, Cody will become the fourth man to win back-to-back Royal Rumble matches. Win or lose, many expect Rhodes will challenge Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. WWE’s annual Showcase of the Immortals will take place in April from Philadelphia, PA.

Cody Rhodes is going to be staying with WWE for many years to come. Click here to find out more. 

The question as to which match will headline WrestleMania 39: Night One has been on the mind of fans for some time.

This year will mark WWE’s fourth two-night WrestleMania: a concept that the company adopted in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The two-night format has allowed more Superstars to have a WrestleMania main event to their name, including AJ Styles, Bianca Belair, and Kevin Owens.

WrestleMania 39: Night One

With WrestleMania 39 going Hollywood (given its LA setting) WWE has been releasing parody trailers for popular films and TV shows featuring the Superstars.

This week, WWE featured Rhea Ripley in a Stranger Things parody, with the Judgment Day member playing Millie Bobby Brown’s Eleven.

In the video, an unseen (but very recognizable) voice all but announced that Ripley will be headlining Night One, stating:

“Feeling that pressure, huh? Of being the main event of WrestleMania? Is it triggering you right now, Rhea? You want some? Then, go get some!”

At WWE WrestleMania 39, Ripley (the winner of the 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble match) will face SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.

This will make Flair the first and only woman in WWE history to headline two WrestleManias (after previously closing out WrestleMania 35 in 2019.)

It had previously been reported that this match was the favorite to headline Night One, with Night Two being headlined by Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns Vs. Cody Rhodes.

While not confirmed by WWE yet, Logan Paul told listeners of his popular ImPaulsive podcast that his match with Seth Rollins will be on Night One.

That show will take place on April 1, which will mark Paul’s 28th birthday.

WrestleMania 39 is now just 20 days away, and one SmackDown stable is expected to make their presence felt at the show.

WrestleMania 39 will mark WWE’s fourth two-night WrestleMania, which was introduced in 2020 due to restrictions surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.

Matches confirmed for the show include Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns Vs. Cody Rhodes, SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair Vs. Rhea Ripley, and Seth Rollins Vs. Logan Paul.

WrestleMania Plans

One stable that hasn’t been confirmed for WrestleMania 39 is Legado Del Fantasma, but that is expected to change in due time.

Fightful Select reports that while details are still scarce, there are “plans” for the factions over WrestleMania weekend.

In recent weeks, the group has turned face, aiding Rey Mysterio in his issues with Dominik Mysterio and the Judgment Day.

On the most recent episode of SmackDown, it was confirmed that until their battle with the Judgement Day is over it was official that Rey is an associate of the group.

Legado Del Fantasma

In June 2020, El Hijo del Fantasma, fresh off his NXT Cruiserweight Championship win, aligned himself with Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza.

This heel turn saw Fantasma demask and rebrand himself as Santos Escobar, and the group would be dubbed Legado Del Fantasma.

As part of the gold brand, Escobar would later challenge for the NXT and NXT North American Championships, but would be unsuccessful in both pursuits.

In mid-2022, the group began a subtle face turn as part of their feud with Tony D’Angelo, which resulted in Escobar losing a loser-leaves-NXT match to the Don.

In October 2022, the group was called up to WWE’s main roster as heels, but with Zelina Vega replacing Elektra Cruz in the faction.

Damage CTRL’s Bayley will achieve a lifelong dream when she faces Lita at WrestleMania 39, and this is a match the Role Model has been preparing for decades.

On this week’s Raw, a six-woman tag-team match was made official for WrestleMania 39, pitting new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Lita and Becky Lynch, as well as Trish Stratus, against Damage CTRL.

During an edition of the Broken Skull Sessions, Bayley named Lita as her dream opponent from any era of wrestling.

Studying

Before becoming the heel Role Model we know today, Bayley was WWE’s premiere Super-Fan, and this wasn’t just her character.

A lifelong WWE fan, Bayley grew up watching Lita, and (according to the former SmackDown Women’s Champion) knows her weaknesses.

Taking to Twitter, Bayley shared an essay she wrote in her youth, showing that she has been studying the WWE Hall of Famer for decades.

Instead of returning from a career-threatening neck injury in March 2003 as young Bayley had hoped, Lita would return to action that September.

WrestleMania 39

This year’s WrestleMania will be an especially special one for Bayley, and now just because she’s facing her hero on the card.

Bayley hasn’t competed at WrestleMania since 2020, as she missed last year’s event due to an ACL injury that forced her to miss over a year of action.

For 2021, Bayley was simply not used for a match, which angered fans given how much work she’d done during the crowd-less Pandemic era.

Instead, Bayley had an on-stage segment where she was attacked by the Bella Twins.

Given that WrestleMania 36 in 2020 took place without live fans, Bayley’s most recent match at WrestleMania with a crowd was back in 2019.

The dream team of WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Becky Lynch and Lita, and Trish Stratus, are looking to shut Damage CTRL up for good at WrestleMania 39.

Last month, Lita made her return to WWE to aid Lynch in a steel cage match against Bayley, which had originally been scheduled for the Raw is XXX event.

On last week’s Raw, Lynch and Lita dethroned Dakota Kai and IYO SKY to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, the first title for Lita since 2006.

While Bayley tried to interfere in that match, the returning Trish Stratus (who had been scheduled for the previous week’s Raw but didn’t appear) neutralized the Role Model.

WrestleMania 39

On this week’s Raw, the new champions and Stratus celebrated the victory but were quickly interrupted by Damage CTRL

Stratus then challenged Damage CTRL to a six-woman-tag team match and made it clear that she wanted to shut Bayley up once and for all.

Bayley accepted the challenge on behalf of her team.

The WrestleMania match will mark Stratus’ first match since SummerSlam 2019, when she lost to Charlotte Flair in Canada.

Surprisingly, this will mark the second in-ring WrestleMania appearance for Lita, after she challenged for the WWF Women’s Championship at WrestleMania X8.

Double-Booked?

The announcement of Lynch, Lita and Stratus against Damage CTRL at WrestleMania is an interesting one, given that this isn’t the match many expected.

It has been reported that WWE’s plan initially was for Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships at the two-night event in April.

Despite Rousey aggravating an injury (which is why she was in a sling on last Friday’s SmackDown,) she is expected to be fully healed in time for WrestleMania.

There is the possibility that the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions could compete on both nights, a feat Tamina Snuka and Natalya achieved at WrestleMania 37 in 2021.

Vince McMahon may be back in charge of WWE, but the promotion is trying to distance its controversial chairman from WrestleMania 39.

McMahon made his shocking return to WWE two months ago, after retiring from all roles with the company in July of last year.

McMahon reportedly began plotting his comeback shortly after his retirement, believing he had been given bad advice by those closest to him.

Director no Longer

Given the California setting for the April event, WWE have leaned heavily into the Hollywood theme, with movie-style posters for Superstars being used in graphics.

For the poster of Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, the credits during a recent graphic included the phrase ‘Directed by Vince McMahon.’

Fans have speculated as to whether this was just a nod to McMahon’s ownership of WWE, or if it is a sign that he is more tied to creative than WWE is admitting.

In a more recent graphic though, McMahon has been ousted as ‘director,’ and the graphic now reads that WrestleMania 39 is directed by Selma Tinware.

Ms. Tinware is a name not known among wrestling fans, primarily because she does not exist, and Selma Tinware is merely an anagram of WrestleMania.

WrestleMania 39

WWE WrestleMania 39 will be (in theory) the first Showcase of the Immortals without McMahon heading the creative team.

In addition to the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match between Reigns and Cody Rhodes, the SmackDown Women’s Title will be on the line as Charlotte Flair will defend against Rhea Ripley.

Asuka looks to end the near-year-long reign of Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair, while it will be Goliath Vs. Goliath as Brock Lesnar is set to face Omos.

Brock Lesnar will face Omos at WrestleMania 39 next month, but this isn’t the match WWE originally had in mind.

Last week, Omos laid out the challenge to the Beast Incarnate, who most recently competed against Bobby Lashley at WWE Elimination Chamber.

On this week’s Raw, Lesnar accepted the challenge and laid out MVP, Omos’ manager, in a message to the Nigerian giant.

Nixed Match

Fans have been surprised by WWE’s decision to go ahead with this match, which was not even being hinted at just a few weeks ago.

Prior to WWE Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt stated that he would face the winner of Lesnar Vs. Lashley at WrestleMania 39.

Fightful Select has learned that a match between Lesnar and Wyatt was pitched for the April two-night event, but Brock turned the idea down.

No specific details were given as to why the former Universal Champion refused the match with Wyatt.

It was confirmed to Fightful that Brock Lesnar personally approved the Omos match.

Other Options

In December 2022, it was reported that GUNTHER was being lined-up as Lesnar’s WrestleMania 39 opponent, and the two did have an altercation in the Men’s Rumble match.

Fightful adds that while GUNTHER was also pitched for Lesnar, this match was nixed and that the match had already been scrapped when news in December came out.

At the time that the GUNTHER-Lesnar match was a possibility, there was no mention whatsoever of the Intercontinental Championship being a factor in the match.

Bobby Lashley was also pitched as an opponent for Lesnar at WrestleMania, though the All Mighty will seemingly be facing Wyatt instead.

Vince McMahon

In a tweet, Wrestle Votes implied that Vince McMahon personally had a hand in making the Lesnar-Omos match a reality.

Fightful hasn’t confirmed that internally, but sources close to Lesnar had indicated that “could be true.”

While sources in WWE have stated that McMahon has no official capacity with the creative department, one anonymous talent has stated that they believe the Executive Chairman has more of an influence on creative than publicly believed.

This year’s WrestleMania will feature a smaller card, leaving some frustrated Superstars off the biggest show of the year, it has been claimed.

WrestleMania 39 will take place on April 1, and April 2, in Inglewood, California, marking the fourth two-night WrestleMania in a row.

Night Two of the Showcase of the Immortals will be headlined by Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns defending against Cody Rhodes.

Smaller Card

WrestleMania is WWE’s biggest event of the year, so it is expected that it is the longest and most stacked show of the year.

For single-night events, WrestleMania 35 (2019) takes the record for the longest WWE event in history, clocking in at five hours and 20 minutes (or over seven hours if you watch the pre-show.)

WrestlingNews.co was informed that WWE will be using a smaller card as compared to previous years, and this is an edict from WWE’s Head of Creative/Talent Relations Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque.

It is reported that there will not be a WrestleMania Battle Royal at WrestleMania, which in years past allowed a lot of Superstars the chance to compete at the biggest show of the year.

In more recent years, WWE has kept the men’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal for the SmackDown before WrestleMania.

At this time, three matches have been announced by WWE, though this will of course change.

Unhappy

With a smaller card comes fewer spots for talent to appear on the show, which Wrestling News was informed has led to “some unhappiness” backstage.

There is also unhappiness about some of the slots on the show being saved for part-timers, though the report did not state who.

We do know that Brock Lesnar will answer Omos’ challenge for WrestleMania 39 on tonight’s Raw, and a match between Edge and Finn Balor is expected.

There have also been reports that Trish Stratus and Lita will team with Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 39 to face Damage CTRL.

John Cena is expected to face United States Champion Austin Theory this April, though the match has yet to be confirmed by WWE.

WWE Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair will defend her title at WrestleMania 39 against Asuka, but this is not the match WWE had planned for the EST.

Belair’s reign as Raw Women’s Champion began at WrestleMania 38 last April, and the popular Superstar’s reign is the second longest in history (behind Becky Lynch.)

Asuka, a former Raw Women’s Champion in her own right, earned the title match by winning the Women’s Elimination Chamber match earlier this month.

Change of Plans

While Asuka and Belair are more than capable of an exceptional match this April, this isn’t what WWE had planned.

Initial plans for WrestleMania 39 saw Belair defending her title against Charlotte Flair, according to a report from Fightful Select.

Those plans changed when Ronda Rousey informed WWE of plans to take January off, and thus Flair was brought back from her hiatus earlier than planned.

Flair’s return saw the Queen capture the SmackDown Women’s Championship from Rousey on the final SmackDown of 2022, and the Belair match nixed.

Charlotte Flair will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 39 against 2023 Women’s Royal Rumble winner Rhea Ripley.

Rousey at WrestleMania

With Rousey out of the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championship pictures, there has been speculation about what she will do at WrestleMania 39.

It has been reported that WWE’s plan is for Rousey and Shayna Baszler to challenge for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships this April.

A match between the MMA fighters and Damage CTRL is interesting, given that the trio of Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY are expected to face Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus and Lita at WrestleMania 39.

Lita and Lynch will challenge Kai and SKY for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships on tonight’s episode of Raw.

The Rock won’t be competing at WrestleMania 39, but there isn’t any bad blood between the Brahma Bull and WWE.

For months, it was rumored that The Rock would be competing at WrestleMania to have the long-awaited dream match with his cousin Roman Reigns.

In January, the Great One informed WWE that he did not believe there was time for him to get into sufficient ring shape for a match in April.

Animosity?

While WWE was actively pursuing The Rock for one more match, there isn’t any animosity between the two sides.

While speaking to Louis Dangoor of GiveMeSport.com, Twitter account @WrestleVotes, who has broken stories in the past, said there is no animosity, and added:

“Like with Stone Cold Steve Austin, that door is always open. Maybe he said let’s do it next year? When those guys say yes, WWE is going to say okay.”

WrestleVotes.

Instead of his cousin, Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will defend against Cody Rhodes at WWE’s biggest two-night event of the year.

Never Confirmed

While WWE wanted the Brahma Bull in Los Angeles, a match between The Rock and Reigns was never on the card, as WrestleVotes explained:

“There were obviously talks, but I don’t believe any point in Triple H’s tenure that the match was set in stone. How do you plan for something that you don’t think it’s gonna happen? The internet thought it was going to happen, but it was never really alluded to on TV.“

WrestleVotes.

Last weekend, the XFL, which The Rock co-owns with business partner Dany Garcia, kicked off their latest season.