Why WWE Will Save Cody Rhodes From Burial

1. The American Nightmare's Dream Becomes A Reality

WWE WrestleMania 39 Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

Cody Rhodes will be a World Champion in WWE.

Whether it's the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, the WWE Champion, the WWE Universal Champion, or some other moniker for the company's top prize, the ascension of Cody is, no pun intended, undeniable.

Rhodes is clearly viewed as a big-time player by WWE, as reflected by his TV presence and his positioning since he returned at WrestleMania 38. But let's face it, Cody's time as a true main event player in WWE has consisted of a calendar year in which he was absent through injury for six months.

The Seth Rollins feud was brilliant, but Rhodes' time in the World Title scene has 'only' been a little over three months, with those months chronicling Cody's Royal Rumble win and his subsequent zoning in on Roman Reigns. In the grander scheme of things, the American Nightmare has merely had a cup of coffee in the WWE main event picture... but after these first few sips, Rhodes is primed to continue swigging that coffee back for years to come.

Any notion that Cody Rhodes was buried at WrestleMania 39, any notion that he will plummet down the card because of WrestleMania 39, well, they're just misguided, kneejerk reactions to the lay of the land.

Rhodes may not have defeated Roman Reigns on the Grandest Stage of Them All, but he went toe-to-toe with the Tribal Chief in a 30-minute war and only lost due to outside interference.

Cody will be fine from here on out, Cody's story to become World Champion is still very much in play, and truth be told, Cody will likely still be the one to bring Roman's generational run as Undisputed WWE Champion to an end. Just because the second-generation star's American Dream didn't happen at WrestleMania, doesn't mean it won't happen at all.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.