Cody Rhodes Leaves San Juan With A Win Over Brock Lesnar In WWE Backlash Main Event

WWE Backlash was headlined by Cody Rhodes taking on Brock Lesnar for the first time ever, and as expected, the bout got physical as the crowd in San Juan, Puerto Rico, rallied behind both men. Rhodes came out of the gates strong but was largely dominated for the first half of the 10-minute bout, but things changed when Lesnar donned the proverbial crimson mask, impairing his vision in the process.

In the closing moments of the contest, Lesnar had Rhodes tied up in the Kimura Lock on the mat, but Rhodes mustered enough strength to stack Lesnar up for the three-count and subsequent victory. Afterwards, Rhodes quickly left the ring, holding his arm, while Lesnar stared through his own blood in disbelief. WWE commentators noted that Rhodes is looking to "finish the story" after coming up short in the WrestleMania 39 main event.

While "The American Nightmare" was able to defeat "The Beast," many are still discussing whether or not Rhodes should have defeated Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Looking forward, though, there's a feeling among fans that Rhodes will be in contention for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. A tournament to crown the new champion will begin on the May 8 episode of "WWE Raw" with a pair of triple threat matches, followed by a singles match between the winners to determine one of the two men who will headline WWE Night of Champions on May 28. However, WWE has not yet confirmed who the tournament participants will be, and some are already speculating that the nature of Rhodes' win will lead to him being attacked by Lesnar and taken out of action prior to the tournament.