The Truth: Cody Rhodes should have won at WWE Wrestlemania 39
One of the biggest discussions right now on social media right now is who should have won, Cody or Roman at WrestleMania 39. It’s become Coke-Pepsi, Democrats vs. Republicans and even for the old people “Tastes Great” vs. “Less Filling”. And I get it that The Bloodline has been the best thing on Smackdown in a long time. But after watching the last few months of Raw and Smackdown and even Money in the Bank, it’s time to admit that Cody Rhodes should have won the titles at WrestleMania 39.
That Roman Reigns has done more to destroy the Heavyweight titles than even Vince winning or David Arquette winning could do.
Don’t believe me; check out the recent heavyweight title defenses since Wrestlemania; Oh that’s right… Roman hasn’t even defended them in any of the PLE’s or on Smackdown. The titles might as well be props from a Hollywood movie set the way that they are carried around without being defended.
The last few months of his feud with the Usos and Solo Sikoa have been more about “The Tribal Chief” title and family than titles. The title has not even been even mentioned until his last few weeks with Jey Uso and even then, its secondary to the title of being “Head of the Table.”
Meanwhile over on RAW, after WWE and Triple H quickly concocted a “new” WWE Heavyweight title that looks low class, they have made Rollins vs. Balor drag on for what seems like an eternity. Most will even argue that its not even the biggest storyline in the feud, that Damian Priest’ eventual cashing in is the big story.
Both titles feel secondary and because of that the champions and the wrestlers have struggled to make the feud and title feel important.
Meanwhile Cody has been stuck in two feuds that have done nothing to really help him go to the next level. Brock Lesnar is a part timer who comes in once and a while and only on big PPV’s. While that has worked in the past, it’s tougher to do now when Cody has to go weeks at a time without seeing Brock, confronting him or even wrestling him.
In between his 2nd and 3rd matches with Brock, Cody was forced to take on Dominik Mysterio in a feud that did nothing but give him a win. The match itself was not memorable and in today’s wrestling, Cody can’t even put his hands on Rhea for obvious reasons.
And the “Finish the Story” storyline seems even farther away from the way that WWE has booked him. I understand they want it to be a long journey but in today’s world where the average fan has the attention span of a toddler, long term storylines are very hit or miss. Will fans care as much if this happens a year from now or will they have moved on?
WrestleMania 39 was the perfect moment for Cody as it was right after him winning the Royal Rumble, coming back from a torn pectoral and returning to the company that he left to become a big star. You couldn’t write a better story if it came from Disney and yet Triple H still found a way to screw it up.
It should have been Cody overcoming the odds, capturing the title, and then defending it on Raw and Smackdown. You still could have done the Bloodnline drama and kept Roman Reigns strong while not sacrificing the titles. WWE could even have used Cody to help elevate Austin Theory or Gunther in the process and allowing someone like LA Knight to become the US Champion or Intercontinental Champion.
Instead, they went with the “Safe” booking and Roman retaining the title.
And WWE is now in the storyline mess it is now in. And you can’t blame Vince for this, this was Triple H’s decision.
Cody should have gone over!