At WrestleMania 39, Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes faced Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the main event of night two.
Despite Rhodes’ desperate attempt to finish his story and capture the championship that eluded both his father and brother, Reigns was victorious in the end, extending his record-breaking title reign and dashing Cody’s hopes of holding WWE gold.
Many fans criticized the decision to have Reigns’ championship run continue, while some within WWE such as Corey Graves have defended the decision, saying that Cody’s loss helps him to be seen as a more relatable character.
Speaking in a new interview with John Chuckery, WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff weighed in on the controversy, saying that the decision could be the correct one, but only if WWE has a plan for Rhodes going forward.
“I think it’s absolutely the right decision. Having Cody chase that title, yes. If, giant ‘if’ fluorescent colors, fireworks, or anything else you can think of to draw attention to the word ‘if’ in this context; if they have a plan.”
“We Won’t Know Until We Know” – Eric Bischoff On Whether Roman Reigns’ WrestleMania Win Was The Right Choice
Continuing, Bischoff pointed out that WWE has done a phenomenal job with its presentation of The Bloodline over the past year, and said that if the company has a similar plan for Rhodes, his WrestleMania loss was the right decision. However, without a plan, it could prove to be the wrong choice.
“Look at what they did with The Bloodline storyline. That was a phenomenal storyline from a storyteller’s point of view. The character development, the art of each of the characters, the layers in the story, the defined arc within that story, all of it was as good as anything I’ve ever seen in professional wrestling.
“From a technical point of view. I thought it was amazing, really amazing. Now, if they can, however, they ended up with that incredible storyline, six months, eight months leading up to WrestleMania, whoever that team was, if they can replicate anything close to that level of success over the next 12 months, that is absolutely the best decision. On the other hand, if they don’t have a really great plan, then it could be a lost opportunity, but we won’t know until we know.”
h/t Fightful