6 Ups And 4 Downs From WWE Night Of Champions 2023

2. Not Finishing The Story, Moving To A New Book

They’re really going to stretch Cody Rhodes/Roman Reigns II out until WrestleMania 40, aren’t they?

Speculation was centering on the idea that Rhodes could find his way back to Roman by SummerSlam, potentially by winning Money in the Bank in July, then calling his shot for the biggest show of the summer.

But Saturday, Rhodes found himself in a huge underdog role against Brock Lesnar, battling the Beast with a broken arm. Cody figured out early on he could use his titanium cast to bludgeon Lesnar repeatedly, but Brock locked in a Kimura multiple times, finally getting Rhodes to pass out.

This blemish on Cody’s journey to “finish the story” means we’re likely headed toward a third match at Money in the Bank, which would take Rhodes out of the ladder match to win the briefcase, or SummerSlam itself, which also would negate a Rhodes/Reigns rematch.

The match itself was an interesting trainwreck, with Rhodes playing the wounded babyface in peril to perfection, with Brock being the bullying heel. It’s clear WWE is putting more obstacles in Cody’s path back to Roman, but this one felt very artificial, not like an epic struggle, but a necessary means to continuing this new story.