Cody Rhodes: Roman Reigns rivalry is ‘as real as it could possibly get’
On the latest episode of his “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast, Cody Rhodes opened up a bit about his WWE feud with Roman Reigns.
Rhodes — without directly naming Reigns — said their rivalry is “as real as it could possibly get.” They both want to be the face of WWE. But despite any issues presented by that conflict, Reigns is one of Rhodes’ favorite people to work with in the ring.
“Sometimes the most authentic and personal stories make for great money, ticket-selling, in terms of general revenue,” Rhodes said. “People will never know how real wrestling is in different aspects than just what they see in the canon and the narrative. And that’s the most beautiful thing. I hate using him as an example, but my greatest rival in this company, I don’t even have to say his name, it’s as real as it could possibly get.
“It’s as real as it could possibly get. ‘You would like to be QB1, I would like to be QB1.’ It’s every piece of it. But it’s also, when we get in there, that’s probably my favorite guy to make music with. I don’t know what that is.”
Rhodes and Reigns have headlined WrestleMania twice against each other, trading wins in 2023 and 2024. They were on the same side of the men’s WarGames match at Survivor Series last month, with the PLE ending with dissension between Rhodes and Reigns after their loss. A match between the two is in WWE’s future plans, but not necessarily at WrestleMania 42.
This weekend, Rhodes is facing Oba Femi at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. It’s an exhibition match between the WWE Champion and NXT Champion. Along with that, Rhodes is currently feuding with Drew McIntyre over the WWE title.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.