Cody Rhodes has proven over the past two years that he’s as over as anyone in the history of the WWE can get. He’s not just the guy that Vince McMahon himself believed in enough to fly on a jet for to ask to come back and become the top babyface of the business and basically become its future. He’s the guy that has consistently topped merchandise sales and do basically all the right things, in and out of the ring. Perhaps, more importantly, Rhodes is the kind of person, who, above all odds, believes in himself.
It takes a special kind of commitment and dedication to your craft to build yourself up as the ultimate good guy and be the top rival to one of the biggest and most successful heels in WWE history. In the lead up to WrestleMania 39, Rhodes did everything from wearing an entrance coat that would make the founding fathers proud and kissing babies left and right. He made everyone watching WWE believe that he was going to be that guy – until he lost. Yet, just because firmly believes in himself, he’s still making everyone else believe that the loss was just part of his story and that he’ll end up finishing it in Day 2 of WrestleMania 40 on April 7. But, what if that doesn’t happen? What if, for some reason, the WWE still wants Reigns to continue his championship run to beat Hulk Hogan’s at 1,474 days?
If that happens, Reigns would still be the champion for most of 2024, with his dethroning likely coming towards the end of the year.
Now, why exactly are we talking about this? Well, because of a recent statement from Rhodes.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Rhodes revealed how big of a deal it is for him to be the cover star for the upcoming game, WWE 2K24. But, as always, the discussion eventually took its turn towards his current story arc, which will only culminate when he becomes the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship, presumably in April. However, in case that this doesn’t happen, Rhodes claims he wouldn’t want to be a part of WWE 2K25 because he wouldn’t deserve to be either the cover star or one of its players.
2K Sports and WWE haven’t revealed WWE 2K25 yet, but all indications point to it being released in March 2025 – a year after WWE 2K24 comes out on March 8 this year.
Chekov’s Gun is a principle used in storytelling where every detail will eventually matter. Last year, Rhodes had everyone believing that he beat Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. This year feels exactly the same. And, while it’s part of his narrative arc to make everyone believe again, perhaps including himself, the WWE has a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to dethrone Hulk Hogan and replace him with a recent WWE superstar, who’s presumably headed for retirement (or Hollywood) sooner rather than later.
With Reigns’ record standing at 1,241 days as of the time of writing, he’d need to loom in the shadows and continue his occasional title defenses until, at the very least, September 13.
With the WWE scheduling anywhere between 3 and 4 Premium Live Events between September and December for the past couple of years, what are the chances that Reigns’ dethroning won’t happen at the Showcase of the Immortals this April but at Crown Jewel in October or November?
By mentioning his story and WWE 2K25 in the same sentence, Rhodes has fueled speculations that, while he’ll likely still be on the cover of next year’s WWE 2K game, it won’t be because he closed his two-year-long narrative arc at WrestleMania 40.
How the WWE is going to pull this off is beyond us, but the creative team, led by Triple H, has done more than enough to deserve the benefit of the doubt. The WWE has treasure trove of options at their disposal to keep audiences happy and entertained for the foreseeable future, the chief of which including The Rock, CM Punk, and the imminent return of Brock Lesnar. And, again, The American Nightmare has proven that he can overcome all sorts of odds.
It takes a special kind of champion to lose in Day 2 of WrestleMania twice in a row despite all the hype and still have all the fans believing in him, but Rhodes has shown and continues to show everyone that he’s that kind of guy.
