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Cody Rhodes Breaks Silence After Becoming No.1 Contender For Sami Zayn’s WWE Title

By Sridhar Krishnan • Published Jul 04, 2026 11:04 EDT
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Cody Rhodes celebrates his victory against Jey Uso on SmackDown, July 3, 2026 - Source: WWE.com

Cody Rhodes dropped the Undisputed WWE Championship at Night of Champions to Sami Zayn on Saturday.

But it did not take him long to get back into the title picture.

As the newly crowned world champion, Zayn opened the show to address his NOC victory over Rhodes and Gunther in a 3-way match.

Shortly into his speech, the 41-year-old was interrupted by The American Nightmare, who claimed that he had no other intention for being out there than to congratulate Zayn.

This also led to former World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso coming out, who recalled his Bloodline days with Zayn.

Cody Rhodes stopped Jey midway and called him out for interrupting them as they were discussing his rematch. Zayn, in turn, said that he simply wanted to enjoy his title victory, declining a title opportunity to either of the two men.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce, who was filling in for Nick Aldis, made a #1 contendership match between Rhodes and Jey, with the winner facing Zayn for the championship on Raw next week.

Cody Rhodes Breaks Silence After Beating Jey Uso On WWE SmackDown

Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso competed in the main event of SmackDown, which had returned to its 2-hour programming for the first time in 2026.

The bout kicked off with both superstars trading offense. The action briefly moved outside, with the commentator’s desk facing the risk of getting demolished.

However, the action moved inside shortly afterward.

Rhodes hit a Cross Rhodes on his opponent, but only managed to secure a near pinfall. Jey retaliated with an attack, following which he applied the chokehold to no fruition.

In the closing minutes, Cody avoided an attack from Jey and executed a Cross Rhodes for a victory under 10 minutes.

After the win, Rhodes broke his silence via a tweet on X.

Referencing his “golden boy” moniker that Sami Zayn mocked for several months, the former champion pointed out that he was merely one step away from gold.

Should Rhodes defeat Zayn on Raw, it would be his fourth World Championship since returning to WWE in 2022.