Nearly a year after Roman Reigns united the WWE championships to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion at WrestleMania 38, the Head of the Table remains the top heel and star of the World Wrestling Entertainment.
Cody Rhodes seemed primed to defy the odds after coming back from his injury and winning this year’s Royal Rumble. The American Nightmare even handed Solo Sikoa his first singles match loss just before this year’s Showcase of the Immortals, further solidifying him as a threat.
But, as it turns out, you can’t beat Reigns as long as the Bloodline is around.
Just when it looked like Rhodes had everything under control despite interference from The Usos, Paul Heyman goes ahead and distracts the referee just long enough to let Sikoa hit Rhodes with the Samoan Spike. Reigns then took this opportunity to hit Rhodes with the Spear and score the win.
Rhodes had the perfect storybook ending lined up for him. After coming back to the WWE following his departure from All Elite Wrestling, Rhodes beat Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 38 and made it his sole mission to do one thing that his Hall of Fame father, Dusty Rhodes, never could – win the WWE Championship.
Unfortunately, his relentless pursuit of the coveted title came to an abrupt if temporary halt due to a real-life injury that forced him to recover for nearly a year.
In Rhodes’ absence, Reigns made everyone acknowledge him by defending his title multiple times against Logan Paul and Kevin Owens, among others.
The Bloodline storyline also developed further with Sami Zayn turning on his former teammates to reunite with his oldest friend, KO, with whom he won the Unified Tag Team Championships at this year’s WrestleMania.
With that said, the backlash regarding the WWE’s decision following the aftermath of the main event of the Showcase of the Immortals is understandable if not a given. Most were 100% sure that Rhodes would win over Reigns with the Tribal Chief reportedly taking a break after the loss. Instead, Reigns is en route to passing 1,000 days with both world titles and the WWE is at the receiving end of a ton of criticism.
Is this perhaps the biggest swerve in WWE history? We’re not quite sure about that, but it’s certainly up there among the unexpected events to happen in the WWE in recent years.
However, Triple H and the rest of the WWE Creative Team more than deserve the benefit of the doubt. Given the support for Rhodes, the WWE has to have something much larger in mind if it’s risking this much. Just what exactly is that is something we’ll just have to wait and see to find out. But, make no mistake, this isn’t just a swerve for the sake of it – it’s proof that the WWE has a long-term plan in mind for Reigns that just so happens to include Rhodes’ loss.
After the Bloodline’s storyline in recent months, it appears that the WWE’s leading group hasn’t peaked just yet. Rhodes’ loss stings but, once it’s all said and done, we can’t help but feel like this is all going to be a part of this generation’s best tale.
Be sure to watch the Raw after WrestleMania on Monday, April 3, to keep yourself with the latest happenings in the WWE.
