Cody Rhodes Declares He's Reached His "Final Form" After SummerSlam 2023

Cody Rhodes went into detail about his "American Nightmare" persona during his recent documentary, American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes. The moniker and most of Rhodes' current presentation first started being built after he first left WWE in 2016. By the time he returned in April 2022 at WrestleMania 38, his presentation was virtually identical to what he had created in his years with All Elite Wrestling. And after picking up another victory over Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam on Saturday night in Detroit, Rhodes stated with confidence during the post-show press conference that he has now reached the "final form" of the American Nightmare.

"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."

Cody Rhodes on What's Next After SummerSlam

Rhodes managed to beat Lesnar by hitting three consecutive Cross Rhodes finishers after enduring more than 15 minutes of punishment from "The Beast Incarnate." Shockingly, Lesnar would go on to embrace Rhodes and raise his hand in victory after the fact. 

During the press conference, Rhodes made some not-so-subtle hints about wanting to get back to challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. He never specifically named Reigns, which leaves the door open for him to get distracted by somebody else on the Monday Night Raw roster for a while.

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)