Good and Bad in 200 Days

Cody Rhodes After completing his storyline by defeating Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40, he established himself as the top star in all of WWE. Since then, “The American Nightmare” has held the title for an impressive 200-day run. The company’s biggest award. From his ongoing feud with The Bloodline to his recent troubles with former friend Kevin Owens, Cody’s reign has seen its positives and negatives. Here are three pros and three cons of Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Title reign so far.

After winning the undisputed WWE Championship, Cody Rhodes stated that he wanted to be a strong champion who wanted to be in every town and every show. Rhodes did exactly that, defending his title against a variety of opponents at house shows and major events. Whether on the microphone or inside the squared circle, Cody has proven to be the face of WWE and has worked hard to become a top babyface that all fans can trust no matter where they go to see the company.

While his status as the undisputed WWE Champion meant Cody was the top star of the SmackDown brand, the Bloodline saga remained the show’s biggest storyline. Solo Sikoa’s mission to solidify himself as the “Tribal Chief” and recruit new members ensured that the creative team received the most time and focus. While Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa received significant incentives Roman Reign shed even more light on their story.

Cody Rhodes not only performed in the ring and on the microphone, he also lined his pockets in WWE’s biggest spots. Rhodes headlined numerous sold-out shows for the company and moved a ton of merchandise. Cody, who has become WWE’s top merchandise seller, confirmed that he can still hold a draw even after his chase for the top spot is over.

Although Cody Rhodes wore some barnburners during his title run, it felt like there wasn’t much invested in the storyline in the feuds leading up to his defense. While AJ Styles got another shot at gold following his show-stealer and fake retirement at Backlash France, the part of Cody’s storylines that received the most focus was his time with The Bloodline’s Solo Sikoa. Kevin Owens’ turn against him has been a bit of a focus lately, but for the first time in the 200-day reign, Rhodes appears to be focusing creatively on one of his storylines.

Cody Rhodes was part of one of the most memorable WrestleMania main events in history to win the Undisputed WWE Championship, but has continued to deliver nothing but outstanding matches since. From his instant classic against AJ Styles at Backlash France to his emotional battle with Kevin Owens at Bash In Berlin, Cody has made timeout breaks in the ring throughout this reign. His spectacular title defense marked a spectacular run as the company’s top champion.

At SummerSlam, Roman Reigns returned to help Cody Rhodes retain the Undisputed WWE Championship by defeating Solo Sikoa. Since then, The Bloodline saga has received more storyline investment and focus on SmackDown, leading some fans to feel that Rhodes has been overshadowed.

Even though he had the top prize in WWE, Cody felt secondary to everything Roman was doing with The Bloodline. Even when Rhodes teamed with Reigns at Bad Blood, we felt like Cody was playing second fiddle to a true star’s show. This made Cody’s reign resemble Macho Man Randy Savage’s WWE Championship in 1988, when Hulk Hogan was still the number one babyface in the promotion. WWE has to do whatever it can to keep Rhodes at the top despite Reigns’ presence on the same brand.

recommended