Analyzing Cody Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Championship reign so far

Cody Rhodes is the reigning Undisputed WWE Champion since WrestleMania 40

Cody Rhodes won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship by defeating Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 Night 2 in the Bloodline Rules match. This was Cody Rhodes’ first world championship win for the Rhodes family. Rhodes has been holding the title for more than four months (125+ days) and here we analyze Cody’s WWE title reign so far.

Move to SmackDown & title name change

After Cody Rhodes won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, the title was renamed into Undisputed WWE Championship, removing the Universal tagline from the title. As the Undisputed title is the primary title of the SmackDown brand, Rhodes was moved to SmackDown from Raw and was not eligible for the draft, as the champions remain on their respective brand.

First challenge

Cody Rhodes after arriving at SmackDown announced a Championship Eliminator tournament to find his first opponent and AJ Styles popped out as the winner. The match was built quickly as there was only limited time left for the Backlash PLE in France. Although built in a hurry, both delivered one of the greatest matches of 2024. The match received a 5-star rating and marked the first WWE match to earn a five-star rating in 2024.

Cody Rhodes vs Logan Paul

Cody Rhodes moved from AJ Styles and the SmackDown General Manager gave Cody his next opponent, the United States Champion Logan Paul. The match was initially teased to be a champion vs champion winner-takes-all match, but Logan declined the stipulation to defend the US title and the match was held only for the Undisputed WWE title. At King and Queen of the Ring, they clashed for the very first time and Cody successfully retained his title.

Feud with AJ Styles again 

AJ Styles wanted a rematch against Cody, but Nick Aldis declined it, which made Styles play a retirement angle and attack Cody to piss the champ off and get the title shot. Styles’ drama worked out and Cody gave him the title shot, but with the ‘I Quit’ match stipulation. Things got personal between them and both took shots against each other.

Cody Rhodes defeats AJ Styles to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.What a match! Rhodes and Styles have tremendous chemistry inside of that ring.I'm so glad AJ didn't retire, he's still one of the very best, IMO.#WWECastle pic.twitter.com/GbZLsAsn6P

— PW Chronicle (@_PWChronicle) June 15, 2024

At Clash at the Castle, Styles yelled at Mama Rhodes and got slapped by her. This pissed Cody, who went to destroy Styles by throwing the steel steps on him, which made Styles say I Quit. However, Cody still attacked Styles. The match received a 4.5-star rating and was considered one of the best matches of the PLE.

Feud with The Bloodline again

Cody Rhodes celebrated his victory against AJ Styles and Solo Sikoa popped out on the entrance ramp the new Bloodline attacked him. Kevin Owens & Randy Orton saved Cody. Cody aligned himself with Randy Orton & Kevin Owens & went on to feud against Solo Sikoa’s new Bloodline. At Money in the Bank, they had a six-man tag team match where Solo Sikoa pinned Cody, marking Cody’s first loss after winning the title.

As Solo pinned Cody, he got a title shot for the Undisputed title match at SummerSlam. The Bloodline took Cody’s reinforcements Orton and Owens out week after week and built Cody weak on the build. Cody had no backup and Solo called for the Bloodline rules match. Cody gave his wish and won the match with the help of the returning Roman Reigns.

Friendly clash with Kevin Owens

In the fallout of SummerSlam, Rhodes refused to give a rematch to Solo after that and instead gave his friend Kevin Owens a title shot, as a show of love and respect. Owens refused to fight for the title, claiming that he didn’t earn the title shot. However, the match was made official by Nick Aldis.

So far, Cody’s title reign featured some great fights, however, there is no storyline built to make his reign more interesting. There are mixed reactions from the fans to his title reign, however, no one could deny the fact that Cody is a fighting champion, who showcases big matches more frequently.

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