Fans were stunned at the end of WrestleMania 39 when Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the Undispited WWE Universal Championship.
Many thought Cody would "finish the story" and dethrone Reigns to win both titles, particularly the WWE Title that Cody had spoken so foundly of. It wasn't meant to be as Roman, with help from Solo Sikoa, managed to win.
After WrestleMania 39, Paul Heyman weighed in on Roman's victory, speaking to the adversity that Cody needed to overcome before he got past Reigns.
Speaking to ComicBook Nation, Cody was asked about Heyman's comments and losing at WrestleMania 39.
"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. 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, 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," stated Cody.
Cody tried to get a rematch against Reigns the night after WrestleMania 39, but was turned down. Instead, Cody was scheduled to team with Brock Lesnar against Roman & Solo.
Lesnar turned on Cody, kicking off a feud between the two. They will meet at WWE Backlash.
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