Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes: Predictions & Possible Outcomes For The WWE Undisputed Universal Title Match

Despite what fans on the internet will tell you, Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40 is one of the most difficult matches to predict. This match, for all its twists and turns, real or imagined, will have the WWE Universe holding their breath throughout. The decision at the end could very well alter the landscape of WWE regardless of who wins. In our view, there is no world where this match does not change everything.

Cody’s win or loss will be highly polarizing. While Rhodes has proven he has millions of fans behind him, a large contingent of people still believe that The Tribal Chief needs to retain. Those people want to see him pass Hulk Hogan’s reign record. While Hulk’s record is not THE longest reign, it is the largest reign outside of the technical territory times. Some still existed, but by the end of his reign, territories were dying off or they were bought out by Vince McMahon.

This is why passing Hogan’s record, especially in the modern day, would be massive for Roman. These people also want The Bloodline story to keep going and feel the title is necessary for that. While we can agree or disagree here, the point is that many fans want Cody to lose. Therefore, Rhodes capturing the title will upset some people. Yet win or lose, it seems WWE is setting a path for Cody Rhodes to become the new face of WWE.

In this article, we’re going to dive into everything you need to know about this match. We’ll discuss possible outcomes and ramifications of this match, and there are seriously several scenarios to discuss. Buckle up everyone, it’s going to be a crazy ride!

HOW WE GOT TO ROMAN REIGNS vs CODY RHODES II

This section could be 5,000 words if we wanted. The stories involving both men extend well beyond last year.

There’s The Shield, Stardust, The Indies, The Bullet Club, Suffering Suckatash, Cancer, All-In, AEW, WrestleMania 39, The Wiseman, WWE Tag Titles, and so much more. For the sake of brevity, we’ll just go back one year.

Rhodes won the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble and took the opportunity to challenge Reigns for the championship. Their main event on Night #2 was as good as advertised. As most opponents for Roman have experienced, Rhodes was inches away from winning. Then outside interference by Solo Sikoa cost him the championship.

Cody would go back to the starting line, separated by brands from Roman as Cody was on RAW & Reigns was part of the SmackDown brand. Cody would have major rivalries with Brock Lesnar, Shinsuke Nakamura, and even Judgment Day. Meanwhile, Roman had a fallout within the Bloodline that led to Jey Uso leaving the Bloodline and the SmackDown brand.

As we know, 2023 was the year Roman took full advantage of his part-time status. He wrestled roughly 12 matches, all televised. He would show up on television off and on, but ultimately Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikoa carried the Bloodline story. How fans felt about Reigns that year varies, but he was still the champion without a credible challenger.

Then in January, The Rock would show up on RAW’s DAY ONE event and declare that he was going to sit at the Head of the Table. This was a clear nod to Reigns’ power within their family. Cody would go on to win the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble match, his second in a row. He wasted no time and pointed straight at Roman when he won the match.

THE WEIRDEST, MOST CONFOUNDING THING:

In a move scientists are still trying to figure out, Cody came out on SmackDown soon after winning the Rumble to tell Reigns that he wanted to beat him for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship. He wanted to finish his story…just at some point in the future. Not at WrestleMania 40. Maybe he wanted to do his taxes first or something. This not only did not make sense given the Rumble aftermath, but he also simultaneously devalued the World Heavyweight Championship Seth Rollins holds.

Cody basically said to Rollins: “I love this title and all, but the only title that matters is the one Roman is holding.”

After Rhodes tells Roman of his decision, The Rock’s music hits. Cody then walks to the back, seemingly dejected, and then Rock has a staredown with Reigns in the ring to end the show.

That weekend, the internet went freakin crazy! They brought up how they wanted Cody to finish history and that Rock inserted himself into a story and spot that did not belong to him or need him. WWE responded to this (or had it planned all along if you believe that BS) and decided to pivot the direction. This would cause Cody to change his mind and want Reigns. We assume he must have found a really good tax guy.

At the WrestleMania XL Press Conference, Rock and Roman came out and had some sort of love fest over their family. Cody saw this and claimed that their grandfathers would be ashamed of Roman’s behavior. Rock took offense to this for, what this writer still does not really understand. Especially when Rock supposedly had the same issue with Reigns’ behavior enough to want a match with him, but whatever.

THE FALLOUT:

Now we’re here, it’s Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes on Night #2 at WrestleMania 40.

Yet WWE still wanted The Rock to be involved in everything. Therefore, “The Great One” decided to join The Bloodline officially and stand alongside his cousins. WWE did not just want Rock to be at ringside during the match or act as some sort of host for the event. They always planned to have him wrestle in the main event of the show, so how could they possibly give him that?

They actually came up with a clever workaround. Rock and Roman challenged Cody and Seth to a tag team match on Night #1 of WrestleMania. They did not want to have this match on the card for pointless reasons. This led to the idea of adding stakes to the match.

If The Rock & Roman Reigns win the tag match, then on Night #2 in the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship match, it’s “Bloodline Rules.” That means anything goes, including the issue of any Bloodline member getting involved in the match physically. Cody would essentially have to battle the entire Bloodline faction in this situation.

If Seth & Cody win, however, then the title match would be free of all members of the Bloodline. That includes The Rock himself. Effectively, that turns this match into a true one-on-one fight, which Roman hasn’t really had a lot of since being the champion.

Got all that? Everyone caught up? Let’s hope because now we’re diving into the scenarios!

SCENARIO #1: ROMAN PINS CODY CLEAN IN A ONE-ON-ONE MATCH

Out of all possible scenarios, this is the least likely. It’s not that Roman is not talented enough or that Cody is not willing to take a pin. The problem is that WWE has spent the better part of last year making Cody Rhodes look like a true superhero. WWE then has him win back-to-back Royal Rumble matches and put him back into the WrestleMania main event with Reigns.

In this scenario, Cody & Seth won the Night #1 tag match.

This means no Bloodline member can come out to help Reigns. Now we’re supposed to buy into Reigns beating Cody, effectively, clean…without any interference? It just seems hard to believe. One can count on one hand how often Reigns won matches alone during his current title reign. It would strike us as bizarre for WWE to do this with Cody after the story they have been telling.

Is it possible that Reigns will win? Of course. Is it likely that he does this clean? If you think that, then you have clearly not been paying attention. The tag match win ensured Bloodline members wouldn’t interfere. Yet they never dictated Roman would never attempt to cheat to win. There is not a match type where Reigns won’t find some underhanded way of winning if he needs to do so.

If you thought the fan outrage over Cody having just the spot taken from him at WrestleMania was bad…imagine if they had Reigns pin him clean. The Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) would lose their collective minds. A Civil War would break out and we all know how bad those can be.

SCENARIO #2: CODY LOSES THANKS TO BLOODLINE INTERFERENCE

This scenario seems more likely. First, one must assume that Rock and Roman are going to win the tag match on Night #1.

Rock has taken on the role of the “Final Boss.” He is now embracing this persona, where he feels he has unchecked power as a legitimate member of the TKO Group Board of Directors. It would be odd for this new big-heel version of Rock to team up with his seemingly unbeatable cousin only to lose. Also, keep in mind that Jimmy and Solo could very well get involved in this tag match.

The specialized rules only affect the Night #2 main event, not this one.

You could put our confidence level of interference here at 99% honestly. To have Cody both win this tag match and then the Night #2 match would be really weird. We love Cody, but that’s a little too much for even the Superman version of John Cena.

THE WWE RULE OF THREES:

With Cody in a Bloodline Rules match, one could argue that it’s the “rule of threes.” Cody loses to Roman for a second time, has to overcome even more adversity, and then finally gets the win on his third attempt.

If the Survivor Series PLE is in Madison Square Garden this year, it is possible to wait and have Cody get the win in the building where his father had the title taken from him many years ago. It would be poetic to start and finish this story in the same place.

Also, this is a numbers game. The Bloodline is 486 members deep, so anyone could be coming out to help Reigns retain. Cody could also still get screwed over by The Rock. Cody and Rock have legitimate hatred for each other here. If Rock is the “Final Boss” as he claims, it feels like if Cody wants to win the title, he might have to go through Rock to do it.

The “Final Boss” term in video game language is the last guy you have to beat. Whether that connects to Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes at WM is up in the air. Yet Cody won’t just win this match and see The Bloodline magically disappear.

SCENARIO #3: CODY RHODES BEATS ROMAN REIGNS CLEAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RING

In this scenario for the Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes match, Seth & Cody have beaten Rock & Roman on Night #1. This means The Bloodline is unable to get involved in the match, and Cody will get the win over Reigns 100% clean. This means The Bloodline will lose the entire weekend, which does not seem very likely in our opinion. It just seems really weird to imagine.

Don’t get us wrong here, when Cody wins it WILL be by pinfall. Rhodes will be ready to do it and will ensure no one can stop him from getting the win. However, we do not think he’ll get Roman one-on-one, all alone, and then pin him. The two have built up too much of this story to have it end so perfectly. This story really needs to have sort of a messy end result.

Even if Rhodes does win the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship, there needs to be something that helps to get us into the next premium live event.

While many fans would love to see Cody beat Reigns like this (in a clean, legit one-on-one match), it simply isn’t going to happen at WrestleMania 40. Maybe down the road, but not here.

SCENARIO #4: CODY RHODES LOSES BY BETRAYAL OF SETH ROLLINS

This is open for debate. While we do not think this will happen, it is certainly an exciting wrinkle to consider for the Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes match. Especially if you know the history between Cody & Seth. It also creates a new relationship for Seth & Roman.

Interestingly Roman, despite supposedly being the big bad guy, still calls Seth his “little brother” even today. Yet Seth betrayed the team by smashing a chair over Roman’s back on the way out. Reigns still sees him as a brother though.

Therefore, we cannot rule out Seth stabbing Cody in the back to help his former Shield brother.

For this to take place, Seth would have been heel the whole time. If Rollins screws over Cody, he automatically becomes WWE’s Public Enemy #1 among fans. Seth would have quietly been building this up until we saw the betrayal. However, we have a heel Drew McIntyre challenging Seth for the title on Night #2 of WrestleMania.

If Drew wins they need a babyface to challenge him for it. Maybe a CM Punk or Sami Zayn might be up to bat first but Seth as a heel could be problematic for RAW’s World Title picture should he lose the title.

Seth becoming a massive heel isn’t a bad thing entirely, but why do that now? We’re not sure if the crowd wants Seth to be a heel at this point. His entrance theme alone is over with them.

However, Seth has betrayed nearly everyone he’s ever worked with, so it does make sense for him to betray Cody. That is especially true if he loses the WHC to Drew, and feels that his obsession with helping Cody caused him to lose his championship.

SCENARIO #5: CODY RHODES WINS WITH AN OVERBOOKED AVENGERS ENDGAME-STYLE FINISH

While we cannot be sure which scenario wins out for the Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes match, this is probably our favorite. It is stupid and crazy overbooked, but we love it.

Think about it. How many people have been screwed out of winning the title by Roman and The Bloodline? Drew McIntyre, Sami Zayn, Rey Mysterio, LA Knight, Jey Uso, Cody Rhodes, John Cena, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, etc. We have to wonder…why couldn’t they just team up here? It’s not exactly impossible. Cody Rhodes is a perpetual nice guy who could galvanize the locker room to rise up against The Bloodline.

We’ve already seen a little of this last year with Zayn and Owens, as they came out to defend Cody from The Usos’ onslaught.

Cody can have an Avengers-level team to take on Roman, Rock, and the rest of The Bloodline. It seems possible to us. However, we won’t lie to you…it is very unlikely. It likely needs to have some sort of build to be believable. We would not put it past The Rock for the Final Boss to win the title down the line and then have to get his friends together to take down the threat. Rock is a Hollywood guy, and booking all the major WWE names to take him down is as Hollywood as it gets.

If they want a New Era of WWE for Cody to lead, this would be an interesting way to set up the idea of warring factions: The Bloodline vs Team New Era.

While this is a fun ending, it is not the end we see playing out at WrestleMania 40. If Cody does lose, this could be a real possibility at SummerSlam, Survivor Series, or WrestleMania 41 though.

SCENARIO #6: CODY RHODES DEFEATS ROMAN REIGNS WITH HELP FROM THE ROCK

A month ago, we saw this as a possibility. The two had a friendly relationship, especially as Cody was about to give Rock his WrestleMania spot. The relationship with Rock & Roman appeared…rocky. (HA!)

Then Rock appeared on a different level from Roman. He did all the talking when they were together in the ring, which makes sense, he is a gigantic star. Also, if you believe in the conspiracy theory that Rock throws up his “ONE” differently to signal a betrayal, that was something.

The Rock was making us believe that maybe, just maybe, he was not on the same page with his cousin. That Rock truly feels he is the head of the table. Rock could acknowledge Roman as Tribal Chief while he could remain a High Chief. Plus, why call yourself the Final Boss when your unbeatable cousin has the championship?

We could believe Roman could be betrayed amid this Bloodline Rules match-up. Rock could hit him with the Rock Bottom and Cody would get the cover, with Rhodes being out of it at the time and not knowing what happened. It would set up, officially, Roman Reigns vs The Rock. With the winner being the Tribal Chief and possibly the one who challenges Cody to get the title back. Is all of this a stretch? possibly.

AND THEN MARCH 25th HAPPENED:

While Rock said some pretty personal things he wanted to do to Cody and spoke to his mother directly through the camera, this could be written off as an act. Yet on the March 25th episode of WWE RAW, we saw a different Rock than we have in the past. He attacked Cody from behind and then proceeded to beat him until he was bloody, cursing at him on camera and speaking to his mother yet again through the camera. Rock now made it personal, so why would he help Cody finish his story?

Professional Wrestling is filled with storylines, but this type of thing does not make logical sense. WWE fans are not ignorant, as Vince McMahon seemed to assume. We follow the stories, so changing them idiotically won’t work.

Rock drew the line in the sand, and he and Cody are enemies. The next time they see each other, they’ll fight on sight. After weeks of waffling between being a good or bad guy, there is no question that now Rock is fully embracing his heel persona. It was weird to see him swoon over Memphis, even apologize to Ja Morant as he insults him. It seemed like a face trapped in a heel gimmick.

Making Cody bleed while swearing at him and his mom on live television, and beating Cody within an inch of his life is a committed heel move. WrestleMania cannot be about a Rock turn or this story will finish badly.

Also, The Rock said he wanted to return to be the start of something. Even Paul Heyman referred to the early innings of this story. Cody getting help from Rock to end Roman’s nearly 4-year streak seems like an illogical move.

SCENARIO #7: CODY RHODES BEATS ROMAN REIGNS DESPITE INTERFERENCE FROM THE BLOODLINE 

While different from our Avengers Endgame-style win, it is far more likely for the Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes match. This is your typical situation where the heels try to stop our hero from winning, but the hero still finds a way to get it done.

Solo and Jimmy will try to interfere and Seth & Jey come out to get rid of them. The Rock will try to interfere, but Cody manages to get around this by getting some revenge and hitting the CrossRhodes finisher on him. It doesn’t have to be exactly this, but something similar.

This will leave Roman open, all alone, for Cody to finish his story.

It is a very real scenario that might be the most likely. Will it happen? We’re not sure.

However, we can safely say that if you want fans to believe Cody will win the title, then Seth & Cody need to lose the tag match on Night #1. This sets up the Bloodline Rules match the following night. It sets up all the possible factors for Cody to lose. However, most fans know what that usually signals. That WWE is trying to set us up to buy into a loss due to the cards being stacked in favor of the heel (Reigns). Yet then the babyface (Cody) still finds a way to win.

Yet pulling the rug out from under them is a real possibility. It’s subverting expectations, and it is rare to see in pro wrestling. This type of thing happens in comic books all the time. Sometimes you need the heroes to keep losing because it sets up the villain as unstoppable. Only for the hero to get the win in the biggest way possible. However, has WWE set this up enough already?

FINAL PREDICTION FOR ROMAN REIGNS vs CODY RHODES AT WRESTLEMANIA 40

There are so many factors to consider.

The Hogan streak is among them. Yet who cares about the name at the 3rd or 4th position for the longest all-time World Title reign? Let’s not forget that this title reign began as a Universal Championship reign. Therefore, Reigns is nowhere close to the number he’s at now with the WWE Championship anyway. This Hogan record does not mean as much as people seem to assume. Reigns is already the longest-reigning champion of the modern era by a large margin!

We also have to ask, what do Rock & Roman’s schedules look like for 2024? Rock is a special attraction and Roman is slowly becoming that. If the title is taken off Roman and put on Cody, we get a champion around every week. However, what will happen to Roman? Can WWE build a story for a rematch? Can we build a SummerSlam program for Rock & Roman to battle?

The more we discuss this match, the more we realize that fan outcry aside, Cody winning might not make sense right now.

Personally, this writer would like to see Cody finish the story. It feels weird to have him lose in back-to-back at WrestleMania after winning back-to-back Rumbles. Also, keeping the title with Roman to break an arbitrary record that literally no one cared about before now seems like a waste of time.

Roman’s title reign has become a bit repetitive up to this point. Matches are anticlimactic, and he’s rarely there anyway. Why not give the title to someone who can represent the championship weekly? Also, adding a loss to the mix could create havoc for the Bloodline as they navigate who is to blame and what they are going to do to get it back.

BUT IS IT THE RIGHT TIME?

The infighting and the demise of this tribal family could be the next big chapter that Rock was discussing.

Still, The Rock’s insertion into the story, no matter how clumsy, alters the trajectory of everything. By his own admission, he is the Final Boss. It would be weird for Cody to capture this championship and finish his story without going through Rock.

We don’t think that even a Night #1 win is enough for Cody to claim he vanquished the big bad. We think it is going to take more than one victory in a tag match.

Rock’s team has said that this is Chapter 1 in the story while Roman’s team claims it’s the third inning. Neither of those makes us feel Roman will lose the title at WrestleMania.

Of course, WWE Creative knows what’s at stake if Cody loses again. A certain, vocal section of fans will lose their minds. It will feel like a significant injustice….but is that what WWE wants? You want fans to root for their guy passionately, waiting for him to finish the story. It will happen, there is no question about it.

However, we do not believe it’ll happen at WrestleMania 40. Roman wins in a Bloodline Rules match, by the skin of his teeth.