WWE's Stephanie McMahon: There Was A Plan For Cody Rhodes To Finish The Story Faster

On the second night of WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes finally "finished the story" when he defeated Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event. Rhodes' victory over Reigns came two years after returning to WWE at WrestleMania 38, as he spent just over half a decade competing on the independent wrestling scene and being one of the founding members of AEW. Rhodes' main goal upon his return was to win the title his father, Dusty Rhodes, was never able to capture, the WWE Championship. After having lost to Reigns at WrestleMania 39 and winning back-to-back Royal Rumbles, Rhodes would achieve his lifelong goal, but according to Stephanie McMahon on "What's Your Story?," there were plans for "The American Nightmare" to become world champion much earlier than WrestleMania 40.

"If you followed his whole career, but way beyond that, when you think about it and what he did leaving and then coming back as a bigger star than he ever was ... It was complicated, there was one plan that had it happening right away, and then some other things happened and the plan changed. But we were all in on Cody as soon as he came back."

Since the iconic WrestleMania 40 night two main event, Rhodes has held the Undisputed WWE Championship on three occasions, though his first reign is still viewed as the most dominant, with it being 378 days long.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "What's Your Story? With Steph McMahon" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.