Matt Hardy Thinks It's Possible Cody Rhodes Lost At WWE WrestleMania Because He Started AEW

WWE elicited a massive uproar to end WrestleMania 39 when Roman Reigns defeated the man who many thought would finally be able to finally unseat him. That man, of course, was Cody Rhodes. Unfortunately for Rhodes, his dream of "finishing the story" was squashed, as The Bloodline ensured Reigns walked away with the win, and the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship still in his grasp. Following Rhodes' shocking loss, many fans were perplexed at the booking decision. While reports suggested that Vince McMahon was not involved in the creative process for WrestleMania 39, former WWE Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy believes Rhodes' promising win might have possibly been tainted by McMahon.

Rhodes was instrumental in establishing and building WWE's rival company — AEW — where he served as an Executive Vice President and a major in-ring figure. Upon Rhodes' return to WWE last year though, Hardy acknowledged that McMahon might harbor an ulterior motive when making booking decisions surrounding "The American Nightmare."

"Cody, he ends up leaving, he goes out, he creates a company, he creates success. He gets himself over. He's a big deal and [people are] all behind him. Vince comes in at the end of the day, like, 'hold up, before you are going to run this ship, I'm going to show you. I'll make you earn it.' I mean, that's a possibility," Hardy said on "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy." "I don't know if that is the actual factual, true deal [though]." After WWE's recent merger plan with UFC was announced, McMahon stated he'd only be participating in creative at the "higher level," and not "in the weeds" as he'd done previously. McMahon's presence became glaring on this week's "WWE Raw," as multiple late script revisions were ordered by The Chairman himself.