WWE Champion Cody Rhodes Reveals His Biggest Ever Wrestling Feud
Cody Rhodes knows there is one WWE superstar in particular who will be remembered as his biggest rival in pro wrestling.
The WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will have his hands full at Wrestlepalooza on September 20th when he defends the gold against a former 3-time World Champion, Drew McIntyre.
While Cody has a long history with Drew that goes back 15 years to when they were rising stars in their mid-20s with bright futures, there’s another WWE star who Cody thinks is his biggest rival in his history, and that’s Roman Reigns.
Considering that Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes headlined three separate nights of WrestleMania (one at WM39 in 2023 and twice at WM40 in 2024), it’s clear why Cody thinks of Roman as his biggest rival. After all, Cody’s most significant career moment at WrestleMania 40 was a big deal because he ended the dominant WWE Title reign of Reigns.
During an appearance on ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A. Smith asked Cody about who his biggest feud was with and Cody explained why it’s Reigns.
“In my career for sure is gonna be Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns held the center of all of wrestling for a while when I went out there and did everything and tried to make as much noise, create all kinds of different worlds for myself, he held the center, he was WWE’s guy, and he stayed their guy.”
“Whereas I came in as a disruptor, and I feel like no matter how you look at it, wrestling is as real as it gets, or you just look at it as the show. That competition between us is filled with respect, but that’s the one I have to keep an eye out for, even as WWE Champion. Roman, any day can step in and be the face of the company. We just did a movie together, which is crazy, the fact that we’re in this movie. Roman keeps me on my toes, and I hope he’s around for years to come. I need a Roman Reigns.”
The movie referenced by Cody Rhodes is a new Street Fighter film, in which Roman Reigns will also be.
Cody Rhodes Shares What He Learned From Roman Reigns
In another ESPN interview, Cody Rhodes spoke about something interesting that he learned from Roman Reigns.
“I’ll say this, something I learned from Roman Reigns. We don’t talk a lot, but he said something to me that really stuck out with me and it’s very sincere is that WWE and pro wrestling, in general, going to such a big platform like ESPN, it’s really everything that our dads ever worked for.
So that’s always kind of there like…they did it all, you know, and then we get to revel in this wonderful success. So, we better bring it, and I think you will see that with Wrestlepalooza.”
Cody is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, and Roman is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Sika of the Wild Samoans. While their dads are no longer alive, they are definitely looking down at their sons with pride as they continue the family legacy in pro wrestling.
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