25 Best Wrestling Moments Of 2024

2. Cody Rhodes Finishes The Story

Cody Rhodes Dusty WWE SmackDown
WWE.com

The Undertaker appearance was plain odd, but the sound of the gong drowned out any “Wait, shouldn’t this be Steve Austin?” inner protest. Also, while it sort of made sense, in that Seth Rollins vowed to be Cody’s “shield”, the old faction’s music almost promised an impossible Dean Ambrose appearance. Also: Seth should’ve politicked to hit somebody, anybody, before his geeked-up sacrifice.

Did anybody in the stadium actually care that WWE’s big, teased ‘Avengers’ moment was a touch weird? 

No. The scene was a celebration of WWE’s history, and obviously enough, a set of fans that have rarely been so enthused about WWE approached a state of nirvana. 

This was tacked onto a thrilling, absolutely massive–feeling match between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, at the true conclusion of which Cody at last “finished the story”. It was incredible. The man who in part saved pro wrestling enjoyed the most earned reward in modern wrestling history. 

CM Punk, when questioning the wisdom of booking John Cena Vs. The Miz in 2011, stated that the main event of WrestleMania should be “the biggest good guy against the biggest bad guy”. 

WrestleMania XL - in pitting the most popular babyface since the Attitude Era against the most storyline dominant heel ever - achieved that ideal as well as any edition of the show ever. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!