Dustin Rhodes says Cody Rhodes' loss at WWE WrestleMania 39 was probably the right call.
Cody Rhodes won the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble and went on to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. The build to the match centered around Cody's quest to finish the story and win the world title, something that his father, WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, nor his brother, Dustin Rhodes, were ever able to do. Instead, Reigns defeated Cody and continued his lengthy run with the gold. Cody subsequently started feuding with Brock Lesnar, as "The Beast Incarnate" attacked him on the April 3 episode of WWE Raw.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Dustin shared his thoughts on Cody's run up to WrestleMania 39 and his loss at the show. When asked whether he feels a sense of pride in what Cody has been able to do, Dustin made it clear that he's proud of his brother, and he knows "The American Nightmare" will be a world champion someday. He then stated that WWE is making Cody earn it.
“There is, an extreme amount. I’m super proud of Cody, and I want to just, from this point on, get closer and closer to my family as possible and love him and put aside everything. Me and Cody are fine, there’s nothing wrong. We call each other all the time, we talk to each other, and he’s doing an outstanding job. He’s being shot to the moon right now, which is great. That’s good for him, and I hope is happy and finally gets that big one that dad never got, and I’ve never won a world title. There is a little jealousy on my part because man, why can’t I do that? But it’s okay. It’s not a bad jealousy thing. I’m extremely proud of him. I wish him the best. He’s gonna be world champion, I know it. I don’t know when. He’s gonna be the world champion. Keep doing it, man. They’re making him pay for it now. They’re making him earn it. I like that, I do. I like that because once you put the title on him, where are you going?" Rhodes said.
Rhodes continued by noting that he understands the frustration some fans are feeling in the aftermath of Cody's loss. He stated that he went to WrestleMania, and he believed Cody was going to win the title. Dustin then pointed out that Cody's defeat made sense from a business perspective, and it was probably the right call.
"I understand, I went to Mania, and I sat up in the box and I wasn’t allowed down or anything like that. I was there, and I went there for the reason that Cody was gonna win the title. We didn’t know. We were just, it was just, this is his time. It was a little frustrating when he didn’t win. But at the same time, business-wise, everybody in the world thought he was gonna win that thing. When you look at it a week later or whatever and you kind of analyze it and see what they’re doing with Brock right now and all that kind of stuff, it makes sense. Was it the right call? I don’t know. Personally, I wish he would have won it. But was it the right call? Probably so. Probably down the line, he builds to this thing, and he finally wins it, then it’s gonna be that much bigger, at least in my opinion," he said.
Cody's loss has been surrounded by the argument that WWE missed the opportunity with him, and they'll never have an equal chance at what could have been a legendary moment, given the build to the match and Cody's momentum. Dustin expressed his confidence that Cody can still get there, and he believes they can strike when the situation is right.
"Looking at Cody now, he’s got to step up his game from here on out to get to where you’re talking about, to make this thing a special [moment]. There’s no reason Cody can’t do it because he’s very talented. His promos are great, his work rate’s great. He’s gonna go out there and right now he does have the people, so it’s just a matter of keeping them, sustaining them, and making that moment when it does happen that much more special. I believe you can strike it again, I do. With somebody that has been born into the business and loves it and things like that, it’s few and far between, but when it happens, it happens, and their times are right. So with storylines and the way they go, if it’s done right, then yes, they’re gonna respond. Finally, Cody gets the championship, oh my god. Then, where do we go from? Now you gotta keep it because he’s there for the long run, so it’ll be interesting to watch over the next year and couple of years," Rhodes said.
MJF recently shared his thoughts on Cody Rhodes' loss at WWE WrestleMania 39. Check out his comments here.
Cody Rhodes will face Brock Lesnar at WWE Backlash. More information is available here.
Click here to check out our coverage of the April 17 episode of WWE Raw.
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