Our new Undisputed WWE Champion has shed light on the immediate aftermath of his WrestleMania 40 main event.
On April 7th, Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 40 Night 2 to end his historic 1,316 reign as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Whilst the post-match celebrations for Rhodes were joyous, a dejected and defeated Reigns would make his way up the ramp alongside Paul Heyman and The Rock.
In a recent appearance on the SI Media podcast with Jimmy Traina, Rhodes revealed that he didn’t see Reigns after their match, although he notes that if he was in his shoes, he’d know that his championship reign was generational and changed the industry.
“When you do something so special and epic, and I’m specifically talking about his run as champion, not anything I did. When you change the landscape of the company, when you help better the locker room situation for the talent surrounding you. When you bring the entire tide up for one company, which Roman did, and you’re a part of something like WrestleMania 40, his ninth or tenth WrestleMania main event, you’re part of that. In the oddest of ways, we don’t need to have a moment. He was nowhere to be found in Gorilla when I got back. I look forward to when we actually do have that moment and get to see one another. No doubt, my entire time in WWE, has been a war time situation. There has always been somebody. There has always been some sort of fight and issue. Even with all that said, you’re bonded, to a degree, over the battles that you have. I might be speaking very kindly about him now and he might be thinking in his mind that he wants to smash me and murder me when he comes back. If that’s the case, that’s okay. I’ll be ready for it. Of all the people I did see, the one I didn’t, and I think maybe in his mind, if I could put myself in his shoes, he knew that his run had been generational, that he had changed the industry, which very few people can say they changed the industry. You can count ten people in the last 30 years who changed the business. I think he knew that he could walk out of the ballpark knowing the ball was still sailing and WWE is going to be just fine, if not even better. We await the return of Roman Reigns,”
-Cody Rhodes
When asked whether he took it personally that he didn’t see Reigns backstage, Cody noted that he didn’t and that regardless of how Reigns views him, he sees it differently.
“No, I didn’t take it personally at all. I wouldn’t take it personal if he hates my guts to this day. I just feel a little differently.”
-Cody Rhodes
At the time of writing, it’s currently unclear as to when Reigns will return to WWE TV, although in the meantime, Solo Sikoa appears to have taken the reins of The Bloodline, kicking out Jimmy Uso and replacing him with Tama Tonga.
For Rhodes, next up on his agenda will be his first defence of the Undisputed WWE Championship against AJ Styles at Backlash in Lyon, France.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the future plans for Roman Reigns as soon as we hear more.
H/T to Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription.
