Have expectations of what a champion should be been ruined?
Having reached the six month mark of Cody Rhodes run as Universal Champion, some people have begun taking a hard look at how things have gone for him since WrestleMania. To help do that here, Tanya of the Suplexes and Shea Butter Podcast has once again lent us her talents. You can find her at @TheWitchMilitia on Twitter.
Roman Reigns enjoyed what can only be described as a generational championship title run from August 30, 2020 to April 7, 2024, unifying the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Universal Championship during this time to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. His reign was 1,316 days, officially the fourth longest world title reign in company history. There are people who watch wrestling currently who have only seen him as the main champion in all that time. With the title, there was an emphasis on long term booking and more drama based storytelling rather than simply focusing on match quality and short term rivalries.
The man who defeated Reigns for the championship at WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes, has increasingly come under scrutiny for his performance as champion in the aftermath. Per my previous article, I have some issues with the way Cody’s reign has been handled, which I will not digress here. I am writing this article to examine a prevailing opinion among the Internet Wrestling Community, particularly on Twitter (never calling it X), that Roman’s run has now ruined the perception of what a champion should be in WWE. I have seen several big wrestling fan accounts state it and the likes more than back up that fact that a not-insignificant amount of fans agree.
Since I am an unabashed Roman Reigns fan, I sought the opinion of others with less biased opinions on my Tribal Chief’s run, podcasters Rich Latta and James Boyd, who do wonderful work covering all things wrestling on their YouTube channel, the Social Suplex Podcast Network (check them out, you will not be disappointed). From them, I was told that fans should really look at Roman’s run as an outlier, something that was unique to him. Comparisons for his reign should really only come from those who were able to hold on to the title for long stretches ala Hulk Hogan or Bob Backlund. Also, while Cody is the company’s top champion, Roman Reigns is very much still the ace!
This is precisely where I think the IWC is misguided in their critiques of Cody and Roman’s reigns, no pun intended. Cody winning the title for all intents and purposes was a RESET, meaning everything that came before that does not and should not matter at the present moment. Cody’s win was meant to be the start of the new era. The work Cody is doing, which I think is good work, should stand on its own. Fans are too quick to compare the two without taking into account the role of each man for the company, onscreen and off.
First of all, Cody is a face, the biggest babyface in the company for the men right now. He is, or should be, a fighting champion, who takes on all comers and wins through his skill, determination, and love from his adoring fans. And he is doing that and then some. Comparing him to a dictator who mentally manipulated the system and his family to keep an iron grip on the top of the company seems misplaced. And setting both men up for unfair criticism. WWE wants you to want Cody as champion. They wanted you to want someone like Cody to become champion when Roman was champion. Do you see how a comparison of their reigns does not line up?
To further examine this query, let’s take a look at the current World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther. If anyone should be drawing a comparison of how a HEEL champion should be perceived, it should be him, since he has the same alignment that Reigns had as champion. But he does not. Why is that? Allow me to explain.
I do not think perception of what a champion is supposed to be has been ruined by the Bloodline story. As with Gunther, Nia Jax, the WWE Women’s champion, and Liv Morgan, the Women’s World champion, do not get this defense whenever there is fuss about how their title runs are booked. The champions in AEW do not get this defense. The only champion who does is the champion who defeated Roman Reigns, is on the show with Roman Reigns, and cannot seem to escape Roman Reigns and his Bloodline. I think fans are saying this in defense of Cody because they have no other way to defend what other fans are saying about him. And I think a lot of fans think Cody’s title reign is boring because they still see the championship that he is holding as Roman’s championship.
I know, I know. It may seem like I just contradicted myself but follow me. I do not think perception of what ALL champions should be was affected. However, I do think whoever holds the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship is expected to continue to provide weekly drama with twists and turns in a long term format as Roman did. And if they do not, it will be considered boring, even if the champion is doing traditionally great work. A different type of standard has been set for that particular championship which, unfortunately, Cody has not yet met.
“Ruined” is the wrong word here, folks. The proper work is “elevated” and, if you are not working to elevate your work in a story with multiple working parts, something fans have grown accustomed to now for four years, it may not be enough. There is a desire from fans for the person holding that championship to leave people wanting to see what happens the next week. And I do not think they are getting that from Cody. And, as I said before, I already wrote an article about exactly whose fault that is.
All in all, the live crowds are happy. Cody is the champion while the company sells out arenas and stadiums around the World. That does not seem like a “ruined” situation. So, like it or not, this is the champion we have carrying the company and looks to be champion at least until WrestleMania 41.
I think this talking point is mostly used as an unnecessary defense of Cody specifically, while I also feel there is not enough meat in his reign to keep those who are accustomed to the Bloodline drama satisfied. I wish it wasn’t a talking point, though, because it certainly appears that the American Nightmare will be entangled with the Bloodline for months to come, doing nothing to satisfy either side of this argument. Unless Kevin Owens and Randy Orton save us from the discourse.
*Special shoutout to Rich and James, they helped me articulate my thoughts on this tremendously.
Stroke of Genius 