12 Biggest "What If" Scenarios In WWE WrestleMania History
10. WrestleMania 39: What If Cody Wins The Title?
The wrestling world is less than two years removed from WrestleMania 39, which might have seen the wildest swing in opinions regarding the main event, due entirely to the outcome of the following year’s WrestleMania main event.
In 2023, Cody Rhodes won the Royal Rumble and challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship to “finish the story.” The entire situation seemed tailormade to a happy ending, which would punctuate a nearly flawless Mania under Triple H’s guidance.
Only, Cody didn’t finish the story. Cue the rubber chicken landing in the ring next to him.
We know how things turned out the following year, but what if Rhodes had dethroned Roman at WrestleMania 39? With the benefit of hindsight, it’s safe to say that Reigns’ status as Tribal Chief would have been under fire, while Cody would have contended with a variety of challengers who weren’t quite serious threats to take the title off him – with the exception maybe of Brock Lesnar.
The real question with Cody is whether his title reign would have been as successful as it currently is. The yearlong build between WrestleManias 39 and 40 was an incredibly delicate situation, but WWE navigated it extremely well, making fans almost rabid to see Rhodes win. Had they gotten their instant gratification in 2023, would the good vibes have lasted this long? It’s doubtful.
Jey Uso would have had an interesting arc. They still could have booked the same “Usos leave the Bloodline” angle, with Jey making his way to Raw, but the tag title reign with Cody likely would have changed, possibly to Sami Zayn while Kevin Owens was injured.
Roman’s Bloodline battles could have eaten up the first half of the year, but eventually he would have had to take a hiatus to preserve a WrestleMania 40 rematch – unless they had booked that for SummerSlam. Either way, it’s safe to assume the world title would have been defended much more frequently in 2023.