WrestleMania 40 will forever go down as the event where Cody Rhodes finished his story. After Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson beat him on night 1 of the event, Rhodes had his eyes on the prize on night 2, the WWE Universal Championship. After suffering a heartbreak at WrestleMania 39, Cody finally beat Roman Reigns and won the ultimate prize in sports entertainment. However, his win is so special because of the person he beat.
For over 1316 days, Roman Reigns held the WWE title and he was the poster boy of the company. For a heel to be the top guy in a company is quite rare and Roman pulled it off with his “Tribal Chief” gimmick. He rarely broke the kayfabe and always represented the company in the best way possible. On top of that, his in-ring performances also improved significantly during this tenure and the Samoan also developed the ability to tell a story with his matches.
However, it was time to let someone else take the responsibility to carry the company forward and Roman did exactly that for Cody. As Rhodes was celebrating his win with family and fellow WWE superstar, Roman quietly made his way to the top of the ramp where he shared an emotional hug with “The Wiseman,” Paul Heyman. Although the footage was not available in the broadcast, fans from the arena captured the moment.
Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman embrace after losing ❤️#Wrestlemania pic.twitter.com/3b27x40g3K
— Wrestlelamia.com (@wrestlelamia) April 8, 2024
Heyman and Reigns were a manager-wrestler combo made in heaven and their on-screen partnership was acclaimed by both the fans and critics. As it stands, it looks like The Bloodline is officially done. It will be interesting to see how WWE addresses the situation on Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania 40. However, if it is the end, perhaps they were reminiscing about the pleasant times they have shared.
Cody Rhodes speaks on Roman Reigns after beating him at WrestleMania 40
After Night 1, Roman Reigns appeared before the journalists and revealed that he was still going through oral chemotherapy for his leukemia. Although he has not been the most active participant, Reigns is still a full-time wrestler. Perhaps, now that he is not the champion anymore, Roman can take a hiatus and enjoy his time with the family before making a return around Summerslam.
After beating him at Mania 40, Cody Rhodes also spoke on Roman’s title reign. He said, “Roman Reigns’ title reign is the GREATEST title reign in the History of this sport. I still hope I can be half of the champion that he was for WWE as a leader.” (h/t via EliteRockerz)
It’s a DREAM COME TRUE for the AMERICAN NIGHTMARE at #WrestleMania XL!#AndNew pic.twitter.com/XeBq0bh90E
— WWE (@WWE) April 8, 2024
What did you think of the night 2 main event? Let us know in the comments below.
