WWE Writer Clarifies Decision Behind Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania 40 Angle Change

Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns are on a collision course, which began long before WrestleMania 39 last year. Ahead of their bout at WrestleMania 40, a WWE writer justifies the complete U-turn of Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania 40 angle.

Night two of WrestleMania 40 is set to culminate in a highly anticipated clash for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. The reigning champion, Roman Reigns, will defend his title against the victor of the 2024 Royal Rumble match, Cody Rhodes.

Brian Gewirtz shared insights with ESPN.com regarding Cody Rhodes’ creative direction leading into WWE WrestleMania 40. Gewirtz speculated on whether fans would have been as insistent on Cody finishing his storyline if he hadn’t won the Royal Rumble. He emphasized that once Cody won the Royal Rumble, there was a heightened expectation among fans that his story should continue without interruption.

“Would the fans be as adamant Cody needs to finish his story if he didn’t win the Royal Rumble? Once he won the Royal Rumble, then I think there was a certain element of, ‘Hey, don’t screw with us now.’ You can’t dangle the Royal Rumble win and then take it away.”

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Gewirtz noted that there was a collective agreement, including from The Rock himself, that it would be disingenuous to tease Cody Rhodes’ Royal Rumble victory and then backtrack on it. He explained that everyone involved understood that in a real-life scenario, if Cody Rhodes had won the Rumble and hadn’t won the title at the previous WrestleMania, there would be a logical expectation for him to pursue the championship opportunity against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40.

”And I think everyone, Rock included, was like, ‘Yeah, they’re right. We should continue this story as it naturally would play out if this were real life.’ If this were real life and he won the Rumble and he didn’t win last year’s WrestleMania, there’s literally no logical reason — even though you could try to make one up — why he wouldn’t want to face Roman and win the title.”

There are many who believe Cody Rhodes will definitely dethrone The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania 40. Only time will tell whether Roman Reigns will end up losing his title to Cody Rhodes so that The American Nightmare will be able to finish his story at the Showcase of The Immortals.

Do you feel Cody Rhodes will finally finish the story? Let us know in the comments section below!