Coming out of WWE WrestleMania XL, Cody Rhodes has become the official face of the company now that he’s Undisputed WWE Champion. However, he had some hurdles to get there.
Rhodes emerged victorious in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match in 2023, only to be defeated by Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 in a title match for the Undisputed WWE Title. Fast forward to 2024, history repeated itself as Rhodes once again won the Men’s Royal Rumble Match and went on to defeat Reigns at WrestleMania XL to win the championship.
Rhodes has now transitioned from Raw to SmackDown as the brand’s top star, while Reigns has decided to take a break from wrestling. His exact return is still up in the air. WWE has also planted the seeds for a future match with Rhodes and The Rock, with WrestleMania 41 being the likely place for it to happen.
This Saturday at Backlash France, Rhodes is set to defend his title on television for the first time against AJ Styles in the likely main event.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that while Rhodes does have future feuds with Reigns and Rock lined up, nothing big is planned for the next few months.
Meltzer wrote, “Rhodes has no real big-time direction until Rock and Roman Reigns are back in the picture. The other biggest star on the brand is Randy Orton, but they’re doing nothing to tease anything in that direction.”