Cody Rhodes Makes It Clear He Wants to Challenge Roman Reigns Again After SummerSlam 2023

Cody Rhodes made it clear he wants another shot at Roman Reigns and the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. “The American Nightmare” was successful in defeating Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam this past Saturday in Detroit, then discussed what he wants to do next during the post-show press conference. Rhodes’ first attempt at beating Reigns back at WrestleMania 39 fell short thanks to outside interference, which Reigns used yet again to keep his title reign and position as “Tribal Chief” alive in the SummerSlam main event against Jey Uso. 

“I think everybody in the room probably knows what my plans are,” Rhodes said, refraining from saying Reigns’ name outright (h/t Fightful). “We were talking about finishing the story. Now, the thing that I’ve been saying to myself, saying out loud, saying while laying there on the mat is ‘get back.’ I want to get back to the situation that I was in, to the same scenario I was in, and fix that outcome. I’m not going to say specifically what that is, but I think we can all read between the lines, and the journey to get there is dang near next to impossible, it really is, including three (matches) with Brock Lesnar. That would be what I would hope, but consistently surprised, you never know. I don’t mean that as a tagline. With me, on Monday nights, you never know. It’s been a great surprise so far.”

Do you think WWE will pair Rhodes and Reigns up again before the end of the year? What will “The American Nightmare” be up to in the meantime? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!

Cody Rhodes Reaching His “Final Form”

Elsewhere during the press conference, Rhodes discussed the evolution of his “American Nightmare” persona and how he feels it has reached its “final form” since returning to WWE. Rhodes previously used the moniker in companies like AEW, Impact Wrestling and New Japan prior to returning to WWE in April 2022. 

“I feel like I just stepped into the role right now the American Nightmare,” Rhodes said. “And I mentioned this in the documentary. It’s this collection of all these things that I’ve been and was. But here (in WWE) it has caught on in a way that I want to just continue what we’re doing. I’ve never seen so many signs with this (points to his neck tattoo). You know, this went from being what wrestling and sports entertainment fans thought was the worst tattoo in the history of the industry. And now this, it’s on every sign out there and you’ve got these wonderful young fans and just jumping on board. I just want to continue to go down that road.

“I think I’ve found my final form. And it took me a while,” he continued. “Some folks get it right out the gate, they know who they’re supposed to be and that’s special. I don’t begrudge them. Me, (I’m a) slow learner and I think I found my final form. So it’s really just polishing up the best of the American Nightmare.”

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Results

• Logan Paul def. Ricochet
• Cody Rhodes def. Brock Lesnar
• LA Knight wins the SummerSlam Battle Royal
• Shayna Baszler def. Ronda Rousey (MMA Rules)
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther def. Drew McIntyre
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins def. Finn Balor
• WWE Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair def. Asuka & Charlotte Flair
• WWE Women’s Championship: Iyo Sky def. Bianca Belair
• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns def. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)