Somehow Cody Rhodes still hasn't finished his story. Now Adam Blampied finishes it for him.
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00:00 Oh hello, I didn't see you there.
00:04 Gather round children and let me tell you a story.
00:09 Are you sitting comfortably?
00:11 Then I'll begin.
00:13 Once upon a time, there was a young boy called Cody.
00:17 Cody had a father, and Cody's father was called Dusty Rhodes.
00:22 One day, someone forgot that Cody's father was Dusty Rhodes, and Cody was very sad and
00:27 said, "This must never happen again."
00:30 Cody went into the butcher's shop, and the butcher agreed.
00:33 Dusty was Cody's father, and so Cody began to cry.
00:37 Cody went to the baker's shop.
00:38 "My father was Dusty Rhodes," said Cody.
00:42 Like the butcher, the baker agreed.
00:44 This made Cody cry even harder.
00:47 This actually goes on for many more pages.
00:51 We'll skip ahead.
00:52 "Oh no," said Cody.
00:54 "I've torn my entire booby tit.
00:57 I'm going to be out of action for over six months.
00:59 That sure is a lot of adversity," said the doctor.
01:02 "Yes," replied Cody.
01:04 "My father was Dusty Rhodes."
01:06 The doctor agreed, and Cody began to cry.
01:08 We're just going to skip a few more pages.
01:13 Rubber chicken, the end.
01:15 Despite that introduction, Cody Rhodes in WWE has really worked for me.
01:20 Unlike in AEW, where his slightly inhuman, inflexible, cornball sentimentality and uber
01:26 pomp coupled with his not always great friends and family getting consistent pushes turned
01:31 off the AEW faithful.
01:32 After all, he was just a little bit sports entertainment for their tastes.
01:37 However, now that he's back in the land of weird wrestling robots where the primary currency
01:41 is flags and everyone wrestles a little less directly onto their head and neck, he's
01:45 slotted almost directly into a role recently vacated by one John Cena.
01:52 This version of Cody Rhodes, like 2015 and beyond John Cena has, on average, good to
01:57 great matches, is a brightly colored superhero to the kids, he cuts impassioned face promos
02:04 with just a sprinkle of behind the scenes spice, and he wins a lot.
02:08 In fact, the only noticeable difference between Cody and John Cena is that everyone was very
02:13 sad that Cody lost his world title match at WrestleMania.
02:16 So let's talk about that, because that's sort of the whole point of "Finish the Story".
02:21 And what is Cody's story?
02:23 Well, it's actually very similar to Drew McIntyre's story.
02:27 Cody started in WWE, he got released because he was in a sh*t gimmick, he used the independent
02:34 scene to radically increase his value, parlayed that value into a big return, got over with
02:39 the fans thanks to good promos and good matches, won the Royal Rumble, and went on to face
02:44 an unbeatable champion in the main event of WrestleMania.
02:47 In both cases, undesirable to undeniable.
02:51 Now Drew won his WrestleMania match, Cody did not.
02:55 Drew went on to have a title reign that lasted off and on for almost a full year, Cody is
03:00 wrestling Brock Lesnar for the second straight PPV without really mentioning Roman Reigns
03:05 in weeks, and we still don't know why Brock and Cody are actually feuding.
03:11 One of these stories seems a little less neat than the other.
03:15 But in a way, Cody's story has always been less neat.
03:19 That's the thing, Cody went on the shelf after a heroic performance inside Hell in a Cell,
03:24 a 5 star match, an unbelievable true life babyface display of toughness, and then he
03:29 was gone with the majority of fans immediately deciding, "Okay, Cody should win the Rumble
03:34 when he returns, he's earned it."
03:36 His return was announced in advance of the Royal Rumble, for no reason whatsoever it
03:44 ended up being, but Cody did indeed return, and he won the Royal Rumble.
03:49 And quite a few of the fans were very cross about this, because in Cody's absence, the
03:52 fan pick chosen one to dethrone Roman had changed from Brave Sir Cody to Noble Sammy
04:00 Zayn.
04:01 Also, Cody returned at number 30, ousting the man who yes, was very big and very Goliath-y,
04:07 but also had been in the match since number 1.
04:10 Or 2.
04:11 Can't remember.
04:12 It's not your typical underdog babyface story is my point, in fact it's an overdog
04:17 babyface story.
04:19 To John Cena story.
04:20 Or a babyface Roman Reigns story.
04:22 Despite this narrative murkiness, fans were still into Cody enough for two reasons.
04:28 1.
04:29 There's simply no disputing that Hell in a Cell performance.
04:31 Speaking purely personally, Cody will be forever over with me for that alone.
04:36 And 2.
04:37 Cody's story was still good.
04:39 He and Paul Heyman cut great promos that yes, featured Dusty a lot, which is a bit of an
04:45 overused emotional hook, but they felt justified.
04:47 Roman was Dusty's star pupil, in a way that Cody ironically never had been.
04:53 And that small personal distinction was one that was also blown up in a historical corporate
05:00 sense.
05:01 In 2016, Roman Reigns won his first WrestleMania main event, and roughly a month later, Cody
05:06 Rhodes requested his release.
05:08 Even though Sami had been involved in the bloodline and a constantly evolving storyline
05:13 since August 2022, Cody's story was still strong enough and long enough to keep him
05:19 positioned in the main event of WrestleMania 39 without too much griping from fans.
05:29 In fact, out of a situation where it looked like WWE were going to have another Daniel
05:33 Bryan and Roman Reigns #CancelWWENetworkCirca2015 situation on their hands, it looked like WWE
05:40 were going to be able to pull off a miraculous balancing act and somehow make everyone happy.
05:44 The story was very almost this.
05:48 Sami got his match of the year contender at Elimination Chamber in front of his unreal
05:52 hometown reaction, but failed thanks to Jey Uso interference and Roman weaseling his way
05:57 out yet again.
05:59 Sami and KO finally reunite and go after the Usos, and in the main event of WrestleMania
06:05 Night One, which is still a WrestleMania main event, which is a hell of a consolation prize
06:10 for Sami, he and Kevin Owens won.
06:12 They win!
06:13 They win the tag titles off the Usos after an all-time longest reign.
06:17 But then, in this parallel universe, in the main event of Night Two, Sami prevents Uso
06:23 interference in Cody's match, plants a boot on Roman for good measure, f*** you for the
06:29 bloodline, Cody reaches down deep to access his Super Saiyan Dusty Rhodes powers, pins
06:35 Roman to win the Universal title.
06:38 Despite seeming like a story with too many protagonists, WWE could have just about weaved
06:43 it all together to show us Cody, Sami and Kevin Owens essentially Avengers assembling
06:46 to take everything from the bloodline in one fell glorious swoop.
06:52 That was almost the story.
06:56 But then, Solo Sakoa interfered, Roman won, and then vanished again with his titles, and
07:04 now we have a new world title about to be crowned for Raw, a Smackdown guy is challenging
07:07 for it at Night of Champions, and Cody and Brock are feuding for unknown reasons, and
07:11 this story now feels like it's being written by a Schrodinger's cat inside the box.
07:16 I have no idea if the story is over or not yet, and also it's really confusing because
07:21 being written by a f***ing cat.
07:24 Point is, let me have a go.
07:35 Right first things first, I've already booked what should have happened in the introduction
07:39 that just happened, you know the thing WWE almost booked a near perfect pair of Mania
07:44 main events and then whoopsie poopsied it right at the end.
07:47 You just have Cody win with Sami and KO's help, everyone gets their revenge.
07:52 Next night on Raw have Cody vacate the Universal title because A) the WWE title is to belt
07:57 his dad never won, it was the only title Cody ever really wanted, and B) he's not Roman
08:03 Reigns so it's not his dream to squat on top of all of WWE's gold like a Samoan smalg.
08:10 Maybe do a version of the tournament they did for the new World Heavyweight title, but
08:14 just have it be for the Universal Championship, have that be crowned off at Backlash, and
08:19 have a winner take all six man tag match, Sami, Kevin and Cody vs the Usos and Roman,
08:26 all the belts on the line.
08:28 Have Edge win the Universal title, the only current title in WWE that he's never won,
08:34 and have him pledge to retire the day he loses it.
08:37 Because remember when Edge put that video tweet out before the World Heavyweight tournament
08:44 and everyone collectively agreed, "Oh yeah, that's a really good story, oh they should
08:50 do that."
08:51 And then they didn't.
08:52 Then have the bloodline lose thanks to miscommunication, Romo and Solo brutalise Jimmy or Jey, forcing
08:57 them to choose between Romo and his brother.
08:59 Then you start a feud between Jey and Roman going into SummerSlam, that's what I would
09:04 have done.
09:05 And then have Sami and Kevin have the last word in that storyline before everyone starts
09:08 building off brand new feuds.
09:10 Happy days.
09:11 That's it.
09:12 That's not the end of the video.
09:13 I mean, that's how they should have book bit done, but because that's a bit easy, have
09:18 a twofer booking on me.
09:19 Let's do a how WWE should book, as in just before Night of Champions, which is when this
09:24 is being recorded by the way, how did WWE finish the story from here?
09:29 Because let's be honest, WWE was always going to let Roman get to a thousand days, weren't
09:32 they?
09:33 Because remember, Roman was supposed to be wrestling The Rock at WrestleMania 39 because
09:37 it was in Hollywood and films and that.
09:40 And I don't think people would have been complaining this hard about Roman still being champion
09:44 after a thousand days if him versus The Rock was the big match of the weekend.
09:48 They would have been like, yeah, all right, fair enough.
09:52 Probs shouldn't have been Dwayne.
09:54 And then Roman would have hit 1000 days a night of champions.
09:57 Like he's definitely gonna.
09:58 And then probably then people would have talked about, all right, but seriously, now, now
10:03 what?
10:04 Because that's the issue.
10:06 I think Roman has done wonders for the company hierarchy up until this point.
10:10 The world titles have never felt as valuable as they do now.
10:14 Well, until they added a third one, which definitely feels less valuable right now.
10:20 But in order to tell an engaging story, there does still need to be an idea of what comes
10:24 next post Roman.
10:25 And no one has felt like a more convincing example of what could be the next step than
10:30 Cody.
10:31 So it should still be him, in my opinion.
10:33 And I'm gonna try and wrap up a bunch of stuff as I finish his story.
10:38 So we start just before Night of Champions on the go home rule.
10:42 Cody and Brock are gonna sign the contract for their match pay-per-view.
10:45 And Cody again just wants to know why.
10:48 Why'd you do it, Brock?
10:51 Why did you attack me the night after WrestleMania?
10:55 Brock makes Cody a deal.
10:56 If you can defeat me in Night of Champions on the Raw after that show, I'll tell you
11:00 why.
11:01 And no, before you say anything, I am not accepting Wade Barrett's apparent explanation
11:07 that he overheard Brock being annoyed that his match at Mania went on first and Cody's
11:13 match went on last.
11:14 The idea that Brock would be peeved in his little shorts about his match with Omos being
11:18 not as well placed as the Royal Rumble winner challenging for the top championship of the
11:21 company, that is very funny indeed.
11:23 Especially when you imagine Brock probably lobbied to go on first so he could get back
11:26 to his ranch in time for a Jimmy John's before bedtime.
11:30 At Night of Champions, Brock is standing on the second rope with Cody on his shoulders
11:33 about to hit a super F5 when Cody slips back, grabs Brock's head and twists in mid-air
11:38 to hit an avalanche crossroads.
11:40 He pins Brock Lesnar.
11:41 One, two, three.
11:43 Super clean, super definitive feud over thank you.
11:46 Cody gets to his feet and he and Brock actually shake hands.
11:50 Later on in that same show, Roman and Solo are facing off against Sami and KO for the
11:55 tag titles when Jey Uso slides in the ring to help while the refs distracted.
11:59 He aims for a super kick at Sami, but he ducks and Jey accidentally strikes Solo Sokoa instead.
12:06 Solo stumbles back into the ropes, into a stunner from KO.
12:11 Solo stumbles back into the corner, Sami hits the haluba kick, pins Solo and Sami and Kev
12:16 retain their titles.
12:18 Now, the next Raw, Cody and Brock share the ring.
12:22 Brock tells Cody that he doesn't respect anyone, so don't go Cody thinking he's
12:27 earned Brock's respect, but Brock is a man of his word.
12:30 He points to the Tron and shows some footage.
12:33 It's backstage from the Raw after WrestleMania, CCTV footage.
12:37 Paul Heyman walks into Brock's dressing room with a briefcase.
12:40 Brock tells Paul after everything he's done with Roman, Paul's got balls walking into
12:44 Brock's room.
12:45 His got balls, by the way, would be a great Alan Partridge style football themed home
12:48 video for Paul Heyman to do after he retires.
12:52 That just popped into my head.
12:54 Brock pins Paul against the wall and Paul stammers, look, I know you don't care about
12:57 friends, I know you don't care about me, but you do care about money.
13:02 Look in that briefcase.
13:03 Brock does.
13:04 It's full of money.
13:05 A peace offering from the tribal chief.
13:08 It's yours if you end Cody Rhodes' career.
13:12 Brock smiles in the ring with Cody.
13:15 Just business.
13:16 He leaves the ring.
13:17 Cody takes the mic, looks down the lens of the camera.
13:21 Roman, I will see you on Friday.
13:24 That Friday Smackdown opens as Roman Reigns comes to the ring with the full bloodline
13:28 in tow and gets on the mic.
13:30 Just as he's about to start speaking, Cody jumps the barricade and starts attacking the
13:33 entire bloodline with a lead pipe.
13:36 Eventually, security guards run in, restrain Cody, put him in handcuffs.
13:40 Cody breaks free to try and attack Roman one more time, but Solo Sakoa grabs him and hits
13:45 him with a Samoan spike.
13:47 Cody stumbles to his feet into a spear from Roman, who grabs the pipe and cracks it just
13:52 once across Cody's head.
13:55 He then has to be helped out by paramedics.
13:57 Cut to the main event on the same episode of Smackdown.
14:01 Right at the end of the show, the bloodline come out again.
14:04 "Now," says Roman, before I was so rudely interrupted.
14:08 Roman then turns his attention to Jey Uso.
14:10 "I keep telling you, and I keep telling you, not to get involved in my matches unless I
14:20 tell you to.
14:21 How am I supposed to keep this family together unless you do as you're told?"
14:27 "Jimmy, how am I supposed to get your Uso to do as he's told?"
14:32 This is how, Jimmy.
14:34 You're going to stay in that corner.
14:36 You're going to do as you're told and you're going to watch.
14:40 SOLO!
14:41 Solo Sakoa grabs Jey Uso, his older brother, and just as he's about to hit the Samoan spike,
14:45 Jimmy gets on the mic and begs Roman, "Please, who's been with you longer than Jey?
14:50 Years ago, when you first became the Tribal Chief, who was the first to fall in line?
14:52 It wasn't me, Uso.
14:54 It was Jey.
14:55 He's your blood.
14:56 He's Solo's blood.
14:58 He's my blood."
14:59 "Sure," says Roman.
15:00 "But what's he done for me lately?"
15:03 He nods at Solo and Solo hits Jey with the Samoan spike.
15:08 Jimmy cradles his brother, but Roman just says into the mic, "Stand aside, Jimmy."
15:14 Solo hesitates.
15:15 He looks at Roman.
15:17 Roman gets in his face, tells him to pick Jey up.
15:20 Solo does.
15:21 Roman tells him to do it again.
15:23 Solo reaches back, hits Jey with another Samoan spike.
15:28 Then another.
15:29 Then another.
15:32 All as Jimmy watches, sat in the corner, nearly catatonic.
15:35 There's this blank look on his face.
15:38 On Raw, Cody talks with Triple H in the ring.
15:40 He says he tried to be a good sport about it after he was screwed at WrestleMania by
15:44 Solo interference.
15:46 He didn't want to whine.
15:47 He didn't want to complain.
15:48 When Roman was drafted to another brand and Cody was kept on Raw, he didn't want to whine.
15:54 He didn't want to complain.
15:56 But now that Roman has tried to end his career, Cody has a sickness.
16:00 He can't stop.
16:01 He won't stop until he gets his hand on Roman one more time.
16:07 He demands to Triple H. The Trips drafts him to SmackDown.
16:12 Triple H refuses.
16:13 You're not the executive vice president around here.
16:16 I'm afraid you don't get to make those kinds of decisions.
16:18 But here's what I'll do.
16:20 You can have a qualifying match for the Money in the Bank ladder match.
16:26 It doesn't take a cerebral assassin to work out what you could use that for.
16:30 This all leads to Money in the Bank.
16:31 Cody is in the men's ladder match.
16:33 And the main event in London for us is Jey Uso vs. Roman Reigns 3.
16:41 As the bloodline disintegrates, we go back to where it began.
16:46 Jey vs. Roman.
16:47 Trust me when I say that in the UK, we are ready for this match.
16:51 We will be kind to this match.
16:54 Cody Rhodes wins Money in the Bank.
16:56 And in the main event, the ref goes down.
16:59 Roman tells Solo to hit Jey with the spike.
17:02 Solo hesitates.
17:03 Roman slaps Solo across the face.
17:05 And Solo just leaves.
17:07 Roman is shouting after him when he turns around into a superkick from Jimmy Uso.
17:11 The Usos hit the double splash on Roman.
17:15 Jey covers him.
17:17 One, two.
17:18 Solo pulls the ref out of the ring.
17:20 He's back.
17:21 He's in a huge conflict about what to do.
17:24 He's pressing his palms into his head.
17:27 He doesn't know the right thing to do.
17:30 Solo hits the spike on Jimmy.
17:32 Roman hits the spear on Jey.
17:34 Covers him for the win.
17:35 But as the show goes off the air, Roman looks at Solo.
17:39 And Solo looks at Roman.
17:42 The roar after Money in the Bank.
17:44 Cody comes to the ring with the briefcase.
17:45 So what do you guys want to talk about?
17:48 Cody looks down the lens.
17:50 Roman, three months ago, you couldn't beat me at WrestleMania without your family's help.
17:55 Three months ago, you tried to use a briefcase to take everything away from me.
17:59 I'm going to use this briefcase to take everything away from you.
18:05 I am cashing in my Money in the Bank contract for my rematch against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam.
18:12 And this time, I'm not doing it for my dad.
18:14 I'm not doing it for anyone but me.
18:18 Roman, time's up.
18:21 In lead up to SummerSlam, on Raw, Cody and Paul Heyman have another promo similar to the
18:24 one they shared before WrestleMania.
18:25 Paul compliments Cody but tells him, "You'll never finish the story."
18:29 Because you see, that would require the Tribal Chief to finish his own story.
18:34 The one that started at SummerSlam three years ago.
18:39 Back when you were somewhere else.
18:42 Roman was making his return and shocking the world.
18:46 That story that Roman is telling runs through The Fiend, Braun Strowman, Jey Uso, Kevin
18:52 Owens, Edge, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, John Cena, Finn Balor, Brock Lesnar, Big E, Drew McIntyre,
18:59 Logan Paul, Sami Zayn and you.
19:04 When will you realise, Cody, this isn't your story.
19:07 You're just the latest chapter in the story of Roman Reigns.
19:12 Cody tells Paul, "You know, the one thing my dad always told me about Paul Heyman, and
19:16 it's true, you talk too much."
19:19 Cody hits the crossroads on Paul Heyman.
19:21 On Smackdown, Roman holds an emergency council with Solo.
19:24 "Solo, I need you to listen to me.
19:25 Paul is hurt.
19:26 Your brothers have turned their back on the family.
19:28 It's you and me.
19:29 We are at war, Solo.
19:30 And right now, we need to be a family.
19:33 Everything I have done, I have done for this family.
19:37 For my blood.
19:38 But none of you will listen to me."
19:40 He's starting to go a bit mad.
19:41 "Maybe I found some blood, though, that you will listen to."
19:45 Roman brings out Rikishi, the father of Jimmy, Jey and of course, the third Uso.
19:51 Solo Sokoa.
19:52 Roman gets in Rikishi's face.
19:54 He tells Rikishi to acknowledge him.
19:56 Rikishi does, but he reminds Roman that this is not what the Anoahi family is all about.
20:00 The head of the table doesn't rule by fear.
20:03 He rules with respect.
20:05 Then says Roman, "With respect, please tell your son to fall in line."
20:10 Rikishi tells Solo, "He is your tribal chief.
20:14 You should do as he commands."
20:16 Roman thanks Rikishi and then tells Solo to hit his father with the Samoan Spike.
20:21 Solo grabs his father, face wrapped with indecision.
20:26 Rikishi just looks at him and closes his eyes.
20:30 Solo hits his own father with the Samoan Spike.
20:34 The final segment before SummerSlam is the contract signing.
20:38 Roman sits at the head of the table.
20:39 Solo sits opposite Cody.
20:41 Roman does a speech about how Cody can't win the big one.
20:43 It'll be WrestleMania all over again, a thousand, million little hearts will break across the
20:49 internet because it doesn't matter.
20:50 And the world will still turn.
20:53 And the sun will rise once again on the island of relevancy.
20:58 When Roman is done, Cody simply signs the contract, picks up the mic and says, not to
21:04 Roman, but to Solo, "The time we have left with our fathers, it runs out too quickly.
21:11 Trust me on that one."
21:14 The main event of SummerSlam, Cody vs Roman 2.
21:17 Like WrestleMania, the referee goes down, but this time Solo has Cody in his hands.
21:23 He's ready to deliver the spike, but he doesn't.
21:25 He lets Cody go.
21:27 Roman screams, "What are you doing?"
21:29 And Solo hits Roman Reigns with a Samoan Spike.
21:33 Cody grabs Roman, hits him with a Crossroads, not once, not twice, but thrice.
21:38 He pins Roman to become the new Undisputed Champion.
21:41 Roman goes away, but when he comes back, he fused with Solo.
21:44 He can run roughshod through his whole family, in fact.
21:47 Maybe he goes insane, and that's how you get to him vs The Rock of Mania 40, if anyone
21:53 still cares about that.
21:54 I'm sure we might in the future.
21:57 Cody consolidates the belt, gets one new belt, finally, that looks a little bit more like
22:03 a winged eagle than it does like a f***ing business card.
22:06 You have the WWE Championship on Smackdown.
22:10 You have the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw.
22:14 And somehow, it's 2002 all over again.
22:20 Except some of us have less hair.
22:27 And that is how I would finish Cody Rhodes' story.
22:30 And also, coincidentally, the story of the Bloodline, pretty much.
22:35 Did you like it?
22:36 What story would you write for Cody Rhodes?
22:39 Let me know in the comments.
22:40 Check out other fantasy bookings that I've done.
22:43 And let me know what else you'd like me to book in the future.
22:46 Jam that Jam, everybody.