At WrestleMania 39, Cody Rhodes was unable to defeat Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship and finish his story.
Soon after the show, Paul Heyman claimed that the loss was a good thing for Rhodes as the crowd got even more behind him afterward, and he was now a bigger star than he was going into the match. Heyman also believes that WWE can now tell the story of Cody’s “redemption” as he is coming back from adversity.
The American Nightmare responded to the comments on ComicBook Nation. First praising Heyman as one of the “most important” figures in the history of pro wrestling, before wondering if he was simply trying to get a reaction out of him.
“I almost think Mr. Heyman, I don’t know if it’s poking the bear, or if he likes living on the wild side, because he’s one of the smartest, most important, influential figures in the history of the sport, but he’s fully aware that I’m an incredibly reactionary person. I react differently.
“Five or seven years ago, if you sent me a tweet about how I couldn’t do something, I might react immediately and then try and go out and do it. That happened quite a bit.
“Today, it’s a little more cerebral in how I react to certain things. Reacting to losing at WrestleMania, here we are, the most profitable WrestleMania of all time, the most important show ever involved, this collective thing that fans love, and to be able to main event.
“So many people looked at it and tried to sell me that that was a win in itself and it’s not how I feel. A win is a win and a loss is a loss. I haven’t gone on TV talking about the nature of how I lost because I think it’s whining and I think everybody saw it.”
Rhodes went on to say an upcoming Peacock documentary on his career will show that he’s already been through enough adversity.
“We saw it, we lived it, we breathed it. I think Mr. Heyman lives on the wild side in a sense when you hear things like ‘earn it,’ ‘hasn’t had enough adversity,’ I can’t wait until my documentary comes out.
“It’s very ironic in terms of juxtaposing the documentary and the amount of adversity in it, some people may not know about, particularly getting back to WWE, and Mr. Heyman’s comments.”
“The goal is the same” – Cody Rhodes wants to defeat Roman Reigns
During the interview, Cody also made it clear that he hasn’t shifted focus and still aims to defeat Roman Reigns and win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
“The goal is the same, is the best way to put it. The goal is the same for me as a sports entertainer, as a wrestler, I came here wanting one thing.
“It doesn’t mean other stories won’t happen that will also be finished and it doesn’t mean there aren’t other milestones, we’re talking about good things like video game covers, but the important thing to me is still the championship on Roman’s shoulders and it’s the biggest match that WWE could do, but it would take a great deal of mountains to be moved for that rematch to even happen.
“The goal is the same for me, I just have to see it through and do the work.”
Another match between Rhodes and Reigns hit a huge stumbling block this week as the two men have been drafted to different brands, with The Tribal Chief remaining on SmackDown while Cody became exclusive to Raw.
H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.