10 New Directions For WWE After WrestleMania 40

3. Cody Rhodes = Full-Time Champ

WWE Wrestlemania 41 Roman Reigns The Rock
WWE

Those whinging about Roman Reigns working a limited schedule as Undisputed WWE Universal Champ will have to find something else to complain about, because Cody Rhodes is in the hot seat now. He'll be more of a full-time/weekly champion than Reigns, which will feel kinda new after years of Roman-led dominance.

Cody is more of a working champ along the same lines as Seth Rollins, and that'll totally shake things up on SmackDown. Blue brand viewers should be chuffed with that. Seeing Rhodes wrestle frequently on telly throughout his own (surely lengthy) tenure as champion sounds like a good time for one and all.

A new era has dawned for SmackDown, basically.

Roman will be on TV even less for the rest of 2024. Obviously, that's a prediction more than a spoiler, but it does sound right. There's simply no need for Reigns to kick about as some upper-midcarder. He's too big of an attraction for that, and WWE knows it.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.