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John Cena, Undertaker and The Rock helped finish Cody Rhodes' story in a glorious Wrestlemania epic

WrestleMania celebrated its 40th year in 2024 by finishing off a storyline that’s been around for more than 50.

In the middle of a brisk Philadelphia evening, Roman Reigns’ epic title run, the longest of the modern era, clashed against Cody Rhodes and his legendary lineage. Rhodes won — but not before John Cena, The Rock, the Undertaker and more stars past and present interfered in a Bloodline rules match where anything went.

It was a proper balance between heavyweight fight and celebrity spectacle befitting a hallmark event like WrestleMania XL. Rhodes and Reigns went toe to toe for roughly 22 minutes of hard-hitting, finisher-heavy wrestling before the shenanigans began.

First, Reigns’ cousin Jimmy Uso interrupted a string of potentially fatal Cross Rhodes (Rhodes’ match-ending move), only to be chased off by his brother Jey. It was further Bloodline drama in a story that’s not yet done unfolding, even after a slightly underwhelming match between the two on the first night in Philly.

Then Solo Sikoa, the man whose spike dashed Rhodes’ WrestleMania hopes one year earlier, came back to repeat history. Only one man could possibly stop him.

His name is John Cena:

Cena begat The Rock, whose appearance wasn’t surprising since he’d wrestled — sorta spectacularly at age 51 — the night before. This didn’t make him any less menancing. He splattered Cena across the mat and told him to “get the [expletive] of my ring” in what may have been his only broadcasted sentence without multiple swear words. He set his sights on Rhodes, which somehow summoned the Undertaker from the void.

But for all the superstars past who showed up, the real difference maker was the current ace who lost his world heavyweight title earlier in the night. Seth Rollins’ mind games peaked when the Shield’s old music hit. That was the faction with which he, Reigns and Dean Ambrose — wrestling now as Jox Moxley in AEW — broke into the WWE. That group was nearly unstoppable, stacking championships and generating epic feuds with the Wyatt Family, Authority and Evolution.

But Rollins broke up the group in a shocking turn, cracking Reigns in the back with a chair on Monday Night Raw before drilling Ambrose. He’d go on to claim the WWE championship by pinning Reigns in the main event WrestleMania 31, cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase to win a match he wasn’t even in.

Reigns didn’t forget this. In arguably the biggest match of his career, he couldn’t let it go. So after dispatching Rollins upon his entrance with an immediate Superman punch, he glanced back at the neutralized threat, chair in hand. He could finish off Rhodes and cement his place at the Head of the Table for another year by turning his opponent into dust.

Instead, he blasted Rollins in a parallel to the betrayal Reigns had suffered nearly a decade ago.

With the legends out of the picture and his foe distracted, Rhodes took over. Three (more) Cross Rhodes later, the WWE had a new undisputed champion after over 1,300 days of Reigns.

This wasn’t just the culmination of a three-plus year run at the top or a decade-long simmering feud that dates back to the days of Ryback’s relevance. It goes back to Rhodes’ father Dusty, giving up his pro football dreams in 1967 to enter the squared circle and turning himself into a legend. Rhodes was a star rivaled only by Ric Flair in the National Wrestling Alliance and particularly the southern territories, where wrestling was religion.

But Rhodes was also a holdout as Vince McMahon orchestrated a takeover that shuttered regional promotions and built a sports entertainment monolith. By the time Dusty came to the then-WWF, he was a middle-aged man stuck in polka dots and dancing in the middle of the ring. His oldest son, Dustin, broke into the big leagues as “The Natural” in WWF competitor WCW but became androgynous sex pest Goldust once he signed with McMahon.

Both men got those gimmicks over with the crowds better than they should have, but that didn’t change anything. Cody’s first run with the WWE saw him work through a handful of gimmicks that sort of worked but left him to languish on the midcard. He left the company to prove he could be big time, starred on the independent scene, helped found his own company and then ran out his string there in three years. There was one thing left to prove for both the man and his family name. He proved it Sunday night.

***

WrestleMania 40 was a tribute to perseverance. That included fighting through your ongoing manslaughter at the hands of a massive Austrian in front of your wife (Sami Zayn’s Intercontinental title win), plugging your sugar water at every turn in hopes of expanding a billion-dollar industry (Logan Paul further monetizing his punchable face by being bafflingly and hideously good at wrestling) or simply remaining in incredible shape long after your in-ring career was finished.

For Rhodes, it wasn’t just sticking out a 30-plus minute main event, one night after a different, grueling 30-plus minute main event. It was sticking out 18 years of training, building a persona and building the confidence to bet on himself. It was a massive wager that paid off on wrestling’s biggest stage, with help from wrestling’s biggest legends.

It was an overstuffed, stupid, beautiful mess because professional wrestling, at its best, is an overstuffed, stupid, beautiful mess. WrestleMania promises one thing: a spectacle on par with nothing else in the wrestling world. Rhodes and Reigns delivered at WrestleMania 40.

With a little help from their friends.

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