SUMMARY
- Cody Rhodes was set to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 after winning the 2024 Royal Rumble.
- However, in the February 2, 2024 edition of SmackDown, The Rock sidelines Rhodes to face off against The Tribal Chief.
The WWE is a very happening place at the moment owing to shocking new developments. Amidst all the comments on the newly emerged storylines, some eagle-eyed fans have made an interesting observation. As such, fans believe that the Stamford-based promotion is taking notes from the UFC, creating their latest feud involving Roman Reigns.
For the most part, the past week has been centered around Cody Rhodes getting sidelined by The Rock. Despite his second consecutive win at Royal Rumble 2024, Rhodes made way for the TKO Group Board of Directors appointee. Notably, prior to that, Seth Rollins cut a promo on RAW, revealing why Rhodes should face him next.
Notably, Rollins stated that his World Heavyweight Championship was a real worker’s title. At the same time, he threw dirt on Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Title, labeling it a “Hollywood” and ‘political’ championship. Soon thereafter, The Tribal Chief retorted on SmackDown, diminishing Rollins’ world title as a ‘consolation prize’ and mocking his former teammate for working ten times more, but making ten times less money.
Cody Rhodes gave up his opportunity to fight Roman Reigns
Recently, one of the biggest storyline changes occurred when Cody Rhodes seemingly made way for The Rock to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. Whilst fans have been outraged with Triple H and co. over this new creative direction, it is not something that is occurring for the first time. As NFL player George Kittel has suggested, the WWE could instead have Dwayne be the referee between Rhode and Reigns, something Triple H also acknowledged.
Notably, Dwayne Johnson’s interaction with Rhodes was followed by a staredown with Roman Reigns. The two competitors stood face-to-face as The Tribal Chief proudly held up his title. Prior to making way for The Rock, Cody revealed that he would fight Reigns, but not on The Grandest Stage of Them All. Thus, fans expressed their disappointment by making the Johnson-Reigns interaction the most disliked YouTube video in the history of WWE.
Owing to The American Nightmare‘s win at Royal Rumble 2023, it was surprising when he did not go on to win against Reigns. Due to the entertaining back-and-forth that ensued, it was believed that Cody would go on to win. However, the WWE’s creative direction seemingly took the moment away from him. Thus, with Rhodes not getting the opportunity to fulfill Dusty Rhodes’ legacy a second time, fans are understandably agitated.
Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall’s feud explained
Amidst all this, many couldn’t help but think about how Roman Reigns belittled Rollins and his World Championship. Whilst many simply chalked it off as a Reigns simply returning fire, others began drawing comparisons to what recently occurred in the UFC. Notably, a similar squabble took place between UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and Interim Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall.
Previously, Jones was meant to make the first defense of his title against heavyweight GOAT Stipe Miocic at UFC 295. Due to an unfortunate injury, ‘Bones’ was ruled out of the contest. Instead, UFC President Dana White brought in Tom Aspinal and Sergei Pavlovich to fight for the newly made interim title, which the Englishman went on to win. Since then, the 30-year-old has been calling for a title unification against Jones.
LET HIM COOK pic.twitter.com/6hyOp6jt87
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) January 9, 2024
However, Jon Jones has dismissed the callouts, indicating his intention to fight Stipe Miocic and likely retire afterward. At the same time, both Jon and Tom have thrown dirt on each other’s names. Whilst Jones has mocked Aspinall’s resume, the Interim champ has exposed Jon’s dominant reign for coming against smaller opponents. Thus, it is quite clear that the WWE team likely lifted this idea and chose to use it for themselves.