After pinning his longtime rival Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns walked out of WrestleMania 38 as the undisputed WWE Universal Champion.
Meanwhile, Cody Rhodes’ return to the event has instantly made him the favorite to dethrone The Tribal Chief. Fans even suggested that WWE could book the high-profile match at SummerSlam.
However, on this week’s episode of Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell said that fans expecting Cody Rhodes to defeat Reigns were misguided and explained why.
The WWE Veteran said that Vince McMahon would not sacrifice two-and-a-half years’ build to have Rhodes go over Reigns. Mantell felt that the reigning world champion would gain anything from losing to the American Nightmare:
“Well, this is my thoughts. I think that’s too soon. But if anybody thinks Vince McMahon is going to have Roman Reigns lose to Cody Rhodes after they went these two and half years building him, I think it is deluded thinking. I don’t think he would, he has done crazy things before, but I don’t think that does Roman anything. It basically kills him off,” said Dutch Mantell on Cody Rhodes beating Roman Reigns. (33:30 – 34:00)
You can check out the full video below:
Dutch Mantell further explained why beating Roman Reigns does not help Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes has returned to WWE with the sole purpose of becoming a world champion. While Dutch Mantell wished nothing but the best for Rhodes, the former WWE manager doesn’t see the superstar having a long-lasting impact at the top of the card.
Mantell added that Cody Rhodes would not benefit from a win as he would not have many credible opponents after winning the championship and might need to drop the title back to Roman:
“Well, I think Cody, I hope he does great, but I think he’s only going to go so far because they will see that, because fans after they see him a couple of times, ‘Hey, it’s Cody.’ You know, we had five or six years of him when he first got here, or maybe more, and he really did a few things but nothing really chart-topping or anything. I think Roman Reigns, since he has beaten everybody and pinned Brock Lesnar to have Cody do it, I don’t even know it helps Cody to win. Who is he going to go against? He would have to go right back against Roman for Roman to beat him. That’s just my thought.” [34:12 – 35:05]
With several premium live events lined up already, it would be interesting to see how the promotion books Cody. Do you think WWE should back Rhodes as the superstar who eventually ends Reigns’ legendary reign? Sound off in the comments section below.
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