After nearly two decades in the wrestling business and numerous attempts to claim one of the most prestigious titles in the world, Cody Rhodes was finally able to “finish the story” and win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 40. But now that the dust has settled from what was the wildest headlining match in the event’s history, the time has come for the American Nightmare to defend his championship and place at the top of WWE.
Eventually, Rhodes will be like all the champions that came before him and lose the highly coveted title at an upcoming WWE event. But, who will defeat the fan-favorite wrestler and make themselves the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion?
We can’t predict the future, but we can make an educated guess as to who’ll beat Rhodes and take his title. Here’s a ranking (from least to most likely) of wrestlers we think stand a chance.
5. Seth Rollins
Though Seth Rollins is taking a break to finally rest his knee (he injured himself just as the Road to WrestleMania was kicking off) and will be out for around a month, per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, it wouldn’t be too shocking to see him come back and make a claim for Cody Rhodes’ title.
The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, who lost his title in the opening match of WrestleMania 40 Night Two, has quite a history with the American Nightmare, even before he tagged with the WWE Champ in a losing effort against The Rock and Roman Reigns on the first night of ‘Mania. Rhodes’ first match upon returning to WWE in April 2022 was against Rollins, and the pair went on to have a series of killer contests, including their five-star effort at that year’s Hell in a Cell, which Cody won.
However, with Rollins just coming off a 300-plus-day run with the WHC, other WWE superstars stand in front of him, at least for now.
4. AJ Styles Or LA Knight
Cody Rhodes’ first title defense will be against either AJ Styles or LA Knight, as the two bitter rivals are set to meet in the finals of a two-week tournament to determine the number-one contender to face the American Nightmare at Backlash in early May.
With his track record of holding multiple championships in WWE and abroad, as well as his previous affiliation with Bullet Club (Rhodes was also a one-time member of the NJPW stable), Styles seems like the better fit for the match and to take the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Though it seems unlikely that Rhodes’ reign will end just before the one-month mark, crazier things have happened in professional wrestling.
LA Knight, who has been on a tear the past year, defeated Styles at WrestleMania 40 in a better-than-expected singles match, which also makes him a worthy challenger. However, it doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards for Knight to win the top title in the company this early on, and he’ll probably be better suited to challenging United States Champion Logan Paul this summer.
3. Gunther
Gunther moving away from the Intercontinental Championship scene and entering the top tier of WWE has been a long time coming, but it was still shocking to see him lose his title to Sami Zayn at WrestleMania 40. Now that his historic 666-day reign as the IC Champ has ended, it shouldn’t be long before the Ring General gets a match with Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Bash at Berlin, which is pretty much in Gunther’s backyard, is coming up in late August, and putting the title on him at WWE’s first-ever premium live event in Germany would make for a huge moment. And, it wouldn’t be out of left field for this to happen, as the Imperium leader has been a dominant force since he started wrestling for the company a few years ago.
However, Gunther might be better suited for the World Heavyweight Championship before he works his way to the WWE Championship scene, especially if WWE wants to continue the WHC belt’s reputation as being a workhorse championship. That said, it’s only a matter of time before one of the two top belts is around the Ring General’s waist.
2. Roman Reigns
When Roman Reigns’ title run ended at WrestleMania 40, the Tribal Chief went out looking strong. Though he did take a triple Cross Rhodes and eat the pin to bring the monumental event to a close, there are a couple of reasons why we haven’t seen the end of the fourth-longest reigning champion in WWE history.
First, Reigns is due a rematch, as has been the case for countless other champions after they’ve lost the gold in the past. Also, his fight with Cody Rhodes didn’t have the cleanest finish, as every member of the Bloodline, Seth Rollins (in Shield gear to mess with his head), and WWE legends like John Cena and the Undertaker all ran in at one point or another. Combine those, and you have a recipe for a rematch at a big show down the road, maybe even next year’s Royal Rumble or WrestleMania.
With Reigns off filming Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune, it’s going to be some time before we see the Tribal Chief back in a WWE ring. Even then, there’s still a certain “Final Boss” who appears next in line.
1. The Rock
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson just wrapped up what might have been the best run of his wrestling career with his Final Boss gimmick and alignment with the Bloodline. Though he failed to prevent Rhodes from defeating Reigns at WrestleMania 40, he made the American Nightmare suffer in the lead-up to their Night One tag team match, which he followed up with a beating at the event itself.
During the Raw after ‘Mania, The Rock once again confronted Rhodes and acted in a way that all but guaranteed that he would be coming for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship after taking care of some Hollywood business first.
It makes perfect sense for The Rock to defeat Rhodes and take his title, maybe as soon as SummerSlam. With so much unfinished business between the two (it felt like Rhodes was feuding with Johnson more than he was with Reigns), it’s only a matter of time before they meet and Rhodes potentially puts The Rock over. Plus, this could further the ongoing story between The Rock and Reigns that seems to be heading to a Wrestlemania 41 main event, which could be a triple threat with Rhodes to finally finish the Bloodline story.
There’s no telling what’s going to happen to Cody Rhodes and his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the coming weeks, months, and possibly years. But when it does eventually go down, and he passes the torch, you can watch it with a Peacock subscription.
