Cody Rhodes came back to WWE after spending seven months on the shelf due to injury. He made a triumphant return by outlasting 29 other men to win the Royal Rumble match and securing his title opportunity at WrestleMania 39.
In the WrestleMania 39 main event, Cody Rhodes will battle Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title, giving him his first-ever one-on-one shot at a WWE World Championship. Cody Rhodes sees this as an opportunity to wrap up his story and win the one Championship his family has never been able to win.
The focus, though, will ultimately be on Cody Rhodes and what he decides to do as WWE Champion if he manages to finish the story. In contrast to the part-time programming that WWE World Champions have become accustomed to in recent years, Rhodes claims he wants his schedule to be more like that of Bret Hart in the 1990s or Ric Flair in the 1980s. He spoke about that in a recent interview with Stadium Astro.
“It would mean vindication. I’ve made a great career out of proving people wrong, and I’ve taken the attitude as of now about proving people right, especially this new audience with WWE that has really warmly welcomed me back. A whole new audience that kind of pairs well with the independent audience I was able to bring over and hopefully bring as many folks as I could. They pair so well together. It’s vindication for both those who are just in it now; this is their first ride with ‘The American Nightmare.’ They like what they’re seeing. Then, it’s vindication for those who have been there every step of the way.
Like the song Kingdom says, ‘I’ll follow you till the end.’ When is the end? Is the end when I win the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship, or is the end when I win that title and then take it every single place I can possibly take it and excel and deliver on a level that no champion has done in years? I want to cut a schedule like Bret Hart, like Ric Flair. I want to do something very different than modern champions have done, where there’s a bit of a ‘less is more’ schedule. I want a ‘more is more’ schedule. It would mean vindication for me, for sure.”
Cody Rhodes
WWE Superstars like Brock Lesnar, The Rock, and even current champion Roman Reigns are a few superstars to follow the part-time schedules as World champions. However, Rhodes certainly has different plans for his title reign, provided he manages to dethrone Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, something that no one has been able to do in the last two years.
H/T to Fightful
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