Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes Deliver Epic Face-to-Face on WWE SmackDown

By Matthew Aguilar

All week WWE teased that Cody Rhodes would be invading SmackDown to finally meet Roman Reigns face-to-face ahead of their match-up at WrestleMania 39. That did indeed happen on tonight's SmackDown, though Rhodes would quickly squash the whole invasion premise. Instead, he wanted to have a conversation, and they absolutely delivered a memorable one. During their discussion in the ring, Rhodes would bring up how he's overcome every obstacle that people said he couldn't, referencing Randy Orton, Stardust, and even AEW. Reigns would then bring up Cody's father Dusty Rhodes, hitting Rhodes with painful jabs about Dusty never mentioning him and even offering to teach him what his father didn't. It was one fantastic exchange, and you can read the whole thing below.

The crowd chanted Cody as they faced off in the ring, and Reigns looked unimpressed. Rhodes said "Contrary to what Mr. Heyman might have told you, I am not here to engage in reckless negotiations. I'm here to have a conversation with my WrestleMania opponent one on one, man-to-man, so I don't see any reason for your compatriots here unless you feel that you need them here?"

Reigns told Heyman to leave them and Solo and Jimmy went too. Reigns said "You might not like this but I'm going to do it anyway," and then laid the WWE Championship down on the ground and followed it up with the Universal Championship, which Rhodes didn't love. Reigns said, "so what do you want to talk about?"

The crowd laughed, and Rhodes said "Fair enough. Let's talk about you. 915 days you have been our WWE Undisputed Universal Champion. No need to print the legend. The reality has become legendary enough. You have superseded hyperbole. Congratulations. Let me tell you something about me. About your WrestleMania opponent. Something you may or may not know. For some, you have become this impossible mountain to climb, but that's kind of my thing. If you think about it, he can't be more than Randy's understudy. There's no way he'll survive Stardust. There's no way that 10,000 people will pay to see his little indy show. And yet for every challenge, I put it through the uprights. For everybody else, Reigns may be impossible, just not for me."

The crowd chanted Cody again, and Reigns looked irritated. Reigns said "Hey he's good. That was good. That's like you've been rehearsing that all week or something, that was flawless. But let me switch gears here and ask you a question. You ever won that one?" He pointed at the WWE Championship. "Alright, we know. Have you even ever competed for one of these?" He pointed at the Universal Championship. Reigns said "Have you ever been in the main event at WrestleMania before? Because I'm pretty sure I done did all of that, so that means I'm the most experienced main event of all time!"

"But here's the kicker. I've been groomed since I was just a little boy. Not only by my father but by your father too," Reigns said. "I'm not done with my story. There's more. Let's talk about your dad huh?" The crowd started to boo, and Reigns said "Easy, I have too much love and respect for that man to degrade him. We spent a lot of time together." Reigns gave a pretty great Dream impression and then said "We would talk for hours. We would talk about everything. Honestly, it was a lot of right now and what's going on in my life. He called it all before, my God. He was the best, he really was. Hey, you want to know what he would always say about you? Nothing."

"He never said anything ever about you. Maybe when Seth was in there, Kevin Owens, Becky. But when I was in there it was like you did not exist. I know this is a lot but, God I wish he was here right now. I know you miss him. I miss him too. I know he's not here anymore but just know this. If there's anything he didn't teach you, I will," Reigns said.

He extended his hand to Rhodes, and Rhodes smiled. "Oh my God, ah. I'm not even playing on the same field. This is not chess. You didn't send Mr. Heyman to Raw to get inside my head. You sent him to relay and convey the real-life situation. You sent him to tell me the truth. If that's the truth, then the truth is one of the fabled Dusty's kids is better than Dusty's actual kid. If that's the truth, then you're the son he always wanted. And that changes absolutely everything. Because it's not just a dream, an urge, a desire, or story that needs to be finished. You said I don't exist? I have to exist, and the only way I can exist is by beating you at WrestleMania. So absolutely Roman Reigns, sir, champ. May the better man win.

What did you think of Rhodes vs Reigns on the mic? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

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