It's Official: WWE STILL Can't Finish Roman Reigns' Story

The Bloodline is the new New World Order.

by Michael Sidgwick
Cody Rhodes Sami Zayn
WWE.com

In a debate that feels at least a year old already, in the immediate aftermath of Elimination Chamber, fans were torn. Who should have defeated Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal championship: Sami Zayn or Cody Rhodes?

Sami wasn't some sentimental favourite, an underdog type that the loudest fans embraced. He drew ratings. When he got "smashed", after the regulation monologue/ref bump "story" match, people realised that it was Cody's time and got behind him. He could win the big one his father never did, Sami could reconnect with a friend who actually wanted to be his friend. Two different babyfaces, two different goals.

Both performers held a strong business case. Cody, as champion-elect at the time, drew staggering numbers to live events. This proved conclusively that he was the new star of the show. Shockingly, he didn't win either. The story never finishes, as Triple H said, all but confirming that the answer to the debate doesn't matter.

It could still be Cody. Roman Reigns was annihilated twice by Brock Lesnar in eerily similar fashion to the way in which Cody was shredded on the Raw after WrestleMania, and while Roman didn't get over as a face, that was WWE's method of trying to make it happen. The Cody character however is now a complete geek. It's that bleak and that simple. Can you name one babyface superstar wrestling champion who got massacred like Cody did over WrestleMania Weekend?

That's not how this works! That's not how any of this has worked, ever!

Fans stop believing in weak characters and the delaying tactics deployed to heat them back up. Say a top babyface star loses a major World title match at an important pay-per-view before losing again to his arch-nemesis. To convince the audience that the babyface is still worthy of their support, a monster is dispatched for them to overcome. The problem now is that the arc is too desperate and predictable. It feels now like an over-correction.

This isn't a thought exercise at all: that is Cody's AEW career, and the Lance Archer match at Double Or Nothing 2020 was the turning point, in retrospect.

CONT'D...(1 of 5)

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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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!