Update On Who Made The Call For Cody Rhodes To Lose At WrestleMania 39

The stars were aligned for Cody Rhodes to get a major championship victory in the main event of WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles.

Rhodes returned from a a major pectoral injury at the Royal Rumble and then won that match to earn a shot at Roman Reigns and the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania that year. The build to the match featured Reigns and Paul Heyman running Rhodes down and mocking Rhodes' attempt to finish his story.

The duo even brought up Rhodes' late father, Dusty Rhodes. Reigns took low shots at Rhodes and told him that his father saw Roman as more of a son than he did Cody.

When the main event of WrestleMania 39 walked to the ring, the audience was fully behind Rhodes to finish the story and vanquish Reigns record-setting title run. Instead, jaws dropped to the floor when Reigns pinned Rhodes to retain the title.

In the match, The Bloodline tried to interfere, but that was squandered by Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens who fought them off to help Rhodes. The finish saw Solo Sikoa hit Rhodes with a Samoan Spike, which Reigns followed with a spear and a pin.

It appeared obvious to go with Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39 given all the circumstances, so who's idea was it to keep the title on Reigns? Well, according to a new report, it was Roman Reigns.

Who in WWE made the call to beat Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39?

Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer indicates that Reigns and Paul Heyman went to Vince McMahon and pitched that it would be better for Rhodes if he didn't win the title in 2023 and that it would be more meaningful for the American Nightmare to capture the gold after a longer chase.

As Meltzer later stated, it's a point that is hard to argue against with the benefit of hindsight.

The report says that McMahon made the final call on that creative, but that Paul Levesque agreed with the move. Though Levesque was in charge of WWE creative at that time, McMahon had returned to the company at that point in time and all big moves needed to be run by him for approval.

Reigns and Rhodes wrestled again at WrestleMania 40 in the main event. On that show, Rhodes beat Reigns, finished his story, and won the Undisputed WWE Championship for the first time ever. That match also was close to being changed at the last second due to involvement by The Rock.

The Rock returned to the company that year and nearly took Cody's spot opposite Reigns in the main event. Instead, the WWE audience revolted on that move and Rhodes was dropped back into the main event. The Rock wrestled alongside Reigns against Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in the night one WrestleMania main event that year.

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