Cody Rhodes Reaches Significant Milestone As WWE Champion
The WWE Championship reign of Cody Rhodes has reached an important date in history.
At WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes challenged Roman Reigns for what was then called the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. It was the second year in a row where Cody won the Royal Rumble and the second year in a row where he challenged Reigns for WWE’s biggest prize.
What was different at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia was that it was called a Bloodline Rules match. That’s because Reigns and The Rock beat Cody and Seth Rollins in a WrestleMania 40 Saturday tag team main event.
In that WrestleMania main event, there was interference in the match. Jimmy Uso got involved, so he got taken out by his brother Jey Uso. Solo Sikoa was next to hit Cody with a Samoan Spike. That’s when John Cena showed up and he gave Solo an Attitude Adjustment through the table.
The Rock made his presence felt by confronting his old rival Cena and Rock gave Cena a Rock Bottom to take him out. Thankfully for Cody, he had some help as The Undertaker appeared from the darkness and gave Rock a huge Chokeslam. Seth Rollins also showed up, Reigns actually took him out with a chair to the back and that allowed Cody to recover.
Cody Rhodes would go on to hit Reigns with the Cross Rhodes three times in a row for the pinfall win to become the WWE Champion. It drew a loud reaction from the crowd while Michael Cole shouted on commentary: “Finish the story!”
The date of that match was April 7, 2024, which means it has been exactly one year (365 days) since Cody Rhodes has been the WWE Champion while also being a workhorse for the company.
During his reign as WWE Champion, Cody has had successful title defenses against big names like AJ Styles, Kevin Owens and even beat World Champion Gunther to win the Crown Jewel Championship honor.
Cody Rhodes Is “Locked In” For WrestleMania 41 Match
A lot has changed in one year because John Cena is now in a heel role, and he’s not going to help Cody Rhodes win at WrestleMania 41 because Cena is Cody’s opponent.
Cody recently talked to Mostly Sports with Mark Titus and Brandon Walker about how he was “locked in” for this match with Cena.
“This one in particular, it’s bittersweet. I’m very much locked into — I know what the rigors of the week are going to be like. I know what the challenges of the Road to WrestleMania are going to be like in these asks that are going to be coming in at the last minute. I’m aware of the extra stresses that come with it, and they’re not stresses at all because you’re aware of them.
I’m happy about my family being there. I’m happy it’s Vegas and wrestling fans [get to] experience Vegas, but it’s bittersweet because John Cena was legitimately, at one point, the dude I drove around for two years and learned everything I possibly could from, and I did it my way.
I did it very differently than John might have thought that I would do it, but it’s bittersweet because I have to do what John did during that ‘Super Cena’ run, which is just win.
As much as John Cena has made a lot of enemies as of recent, and you mentioned kicking me low, whatever it may be, there’s still an excitement over the fact that he could break Ric Flair is record, that he could get seventeen [WWE Titles], and you’re looking at the guy who stops him from doing that.
So that’s the bittersweet aspect of this. But again, I’m locked in. ‘Mania has been my thing for three years, and four main events, I am incredibly lucky and incredibly blessed. If it ended tomorrow, if the story was truly finished, I’ve had an incredibly lucky, lucky, lucky career, and I’m a product of everyone who’s around me.”