Two months have passed since Coy Rhodes’ defeat at the hands of Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania 39. The decision remains a bone of contention for many fans who felt like Rhodes deserved to win the belt at the time. But, if you ask WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T, this contentious decision is savvy booking on WWE’s part.
Discussing Rhodes’ feud with Brock Lesnar on a recent episode of the Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T highlighted Rhodes’ road to redemption following his relatively easy path to WrestleMania 39.
Here’s what Booker T said about Rhodes’ narrative arc:
Cody comes in from AEW, wins the title immediately — Where do you go from there?
This is a marathon, man. This is not a sprint. I know a lot of people want to spring to that moment and put that title on Cody, you know what I mean. And, you know, have that “We did it” moment.
Booker T then compared this situation Kofi Kingston and his WWE Championship reign in 2019. He recalled how thrilled a lot of fans were when Kingston finally won but quickly lost interest once he had it in his position, saying, “Once he won that match, the KofiMania thing went away.”
Earlier reports claim that the result of WrestleMania 39 was always planned and not a last-minute “swerve” as some people claim.
Seeing as to how the WWE has thrived in the absence of Rhodes’ hypothetical win at WrestleMania 39, it appears this was the right call.
Following this year’s Showcase of the Immortals, Rhodes has embarked on a feud with Lesnar, who ambushed him on RAW After WrestleMania. So far, the pair have clashed in two solo matches this month alone, resulting in a surprising victory for Rhodes at WWE Backlash in Puerto Rico and a win for Lesnar at WWE Night of Champions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The latter saw Rhodes pass out at the hands of Lesnar after being stuck in a Kimura Lock, effectively setting him up as a resilient contender that won’t give up no matter the cost. At the same time, it also reinforced the idea that Lesnar is still the most dominant star on the WWE roster and one that Rhodes will have to move mountains to overcome.
As both stars currently boast a single win over each other, it’s highly likely that we’ll see a third match at an upcoming PLE in July or August.
The most likely scenario here is for Rhodes to triumph over Lesnar at SummerSlam. This isn’t what some fans expected with Rhodes winning the Money in the Bank on July 1 and challenging Roman Reigns for his unified championship belts at this year’s SummerSlam on August 5. But, with the WWE looking to extend Reigns’ championship run, this is probably what the current creative head, Triple H, has in mind. This also suggests that the previously rumored encounter between Lesnar and Gunther will have to wait until later this year if not next year for WrestleMania 40.
In an ideal world, Rhodes will finally win over Lesnar at SummerSlam while The Usos beat Solo Sikoa and Roman Reigns at SummerSlam with Drew McIntyre feuding against Seth Rollins until then.
This trifecta of potential main event-worthy storylines all happening at the same PLE can put all the involved parties over while making sure that a lot of eyes will be on the WWE for the foreseeable future.
With the implosion of The Bloodline set to happen sooner rather than later, Roman Reigns will be sent packing from the Island of Relevancy in due time.
