Imagine leaving a company years ago and coming back to be so over that you’re still one of the brand’s most popular stars even after losing in one of the most controversial matches in recent WWE history.
This is exactly what’s happening with Cody Rhodes.
In the lead-up to his main event match against the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes was reportedly selling as well as longtime WWE fan favorites. Fast forward to today and he’s a good bet at being the one to end Reigns’ nearly 1000-day run as the world champion.
Fightful Select (via Ringside News) reports that Rhodes’ merchandise ended up “outselling WWE’s general brand merchandise in some cases.”
After outselling everybody during WrestleMania week, Rhodes’ popularity hasn’t waned at all, which is a good sign for the WWE’s plans for Rhodes’ rematch with Reigns.
We haven’t heard much from Roman Reigns lately outside of the Usos wanting to prove themselves to the Tribal Chief and him being drafted to WWE SmackDown, the opposite of Rhodes in RAW. It still isn’t clear when Rhodes will get his chance at the unified title belts again, but he’ll have one more roadblock to clear on May 6 at WWE Backlash in the form of Brock Lesnar. The Beast Incarnate attacked Rhodes on RAW After WrestleMania, which ultimately led to this encounter.
Lesnar, who is currently a free agent, can feud with anyone on the WWE roster at any point in time. It just happens that he’s got his eyes set on Rhodes.
Rhodes getting a win over Lesnar in Puerto Rico is a huge boost to his storyline, but the recent numbers suggest that The American Nightmare doesn’t need a win to put him over with fans. This might give Triple H the idea to have Rhodes lose against Lesnar to prolong the feud, possibly under SummerSlam in August. But, that’s too much of a risk, even if Rhodes continues to top the WWE merchandise sales.
We’ll find out more if Rhodes can take a step closer to a rematch against Reigns to complete his story later this week when he takes on Lesnar on Saturday, May 6, in the main event of WWE Backlash.
