Cody Rhodes Fails To Finish His Story At WrestleMania 39
WrestleMania went Hollywood once again in Los Angeles, and it ended in sadness because Cody Rhodes failed to dethrone “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns.
Cody Rhodes left WWE in 2016 after growing frustrated at portraying Stardust and made his list before forging his own way in the pro wrestling business. After joining up with The Young Bucks in Bullet Club, they rode their wave of popularity all the way to putting on the All In show in Chicago in 2018.
That led to the formation of All Elite Wrestling at the beginning of 2019 where Rhodes, The Bucks, and Kenny Omega were named as Executive Vice Presidents. After three years, however, The American Nightmare announced his departure and it soon became clear he had unfinished business to deal with.
At WrestleMania 38, Cody Rhodes returned to WWE in grand fashion as the surprise opponent of Seth Rollins. That was the first of three matches between the two men, the last of which came at Hell In A Cell when Rhodes competed with a torn pec.
That injury put Cody Rhodes on the shelf for months and he only returned as the last man out in the 2023 Royal Rumble where he won the whole thing to book his place in the main event of WrestleMania 39. The toughest test was to come for Rhodes, however, as he was faced with the challenge of the all-conquering Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns.
At WrestleMania 39, Cody Rhodes came so close to beating Roman Reigns in their Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match. Both men hit their signature moves and only got two counts. Solo Sikoa interfered for Reigns, but the referee ejected Solo from ringside when he caught Solo in the act.
Late in the match when The Usos attacked Cody (while the referee was knocked down), Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens showed up to stop The Usos. That led to Owens & Zayn hitting their finishing moves on Reigns. Zayn & Owens would end up brawling with The Usos into the crowd.
When Cody looked like he was about to put Reigns away with the Cross Rhodes two times, he wanted to do it again, but Solo appeared with a Samoan Spike while Heyman distracted the referee. Reigns got back up and hit a Spear for the pinfall win after 36 minutes of action.
After the match, Roman Reigns celebrated with his WWE & Universal Titles once again as his 945-day reign as Universal Champion continues. Meanwhile, Cody Rhodes was dejected in the ring as WrestleMania came to an end.