Last year Cody Rhodes won the 30 man Royal Rumble match and he went on to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39, but unfortunately for Cody it was Roman who walked out with the gold. The American Nightmare won the Royal Rumble once again this year to once again earn the right to challenge Roman Reigns and his road to WrestleMania was rocky to say the least.

Ahead of WrestleMania, Cody was involved in an intense feud with The Rock which led to a big tag team match during night one of WrestleMania 40. The Rock & Roman Reigns managed to defeat Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins in the main event of night one which gave The Bloodline the advantage for night two. It was stated ahead of time that if Rock & Reigns won the tag team match then the title match on night two would be contested under Bloodline rules.

After both men made their entrances the announcements were made and Michael Cole reiterated that Cody will never get another shot at the belt if he doesn’t win tonight.

Cody and Roman battled back and forth in a long match with a number of near falls. At one point Cody cleared off the announce table as he prepared to put Roman through it, but The Tribal Chief put Cody through the table instead with a powerbomb. He brought Cody back in the ring then hit a Superman Punch for a two count.

The American Nightmare got the momentum back then hit Roman with a spear followed by a Cross Rhodes. Cody went for a second Cross Rhodes, but Jimmy Uso superkicked him. Roman and Jimmy attacked Cody then Jey Uso came out to make the save. Jimmy Uso battled Jey at the top of the stage and Jey speared Jimmy off the stage through a table. Back in the ring Roman hit Cody with a spear for a two count. The action spilled to the outside and Cody speared Roman through the barricade as the fans chanted, “This is awesome!”

Cody Rhodes hit Cross Rhodes twice on Roman Reigns then went for it a third time. Solo Sikoa appeared out of nowhere and broke it up with the Samoan Spike then put Roman on top of Cody, but Cody kicked out. Solo yelled at Roman as he told The Tribal Chief to “Finish him!”

Roman Reigns and Solo then hit a spear and Samoan Spike combo. However, Cody still kicked out. John Cena’s music and Cena ran down to the ring. Cena sent Solo over the top rope then hit the Attitude Adjustment on Roman Reigns. He then put Solo Sikoa through the announce table with the Attitude Adjustment as The Rock’s music hit.

The Rock looked furious as he walked to the ring and stood face to face with John Cena. The fans went wild and chanted “holy s**t” as Rock and Cena faced off. Cena took his shirt off and prepared for a battle as The Rock stepped up. The Rock hit John Cena with the Rock Bottom then took off his weight belt.

The Shield’s entrance music hit and The Rock looked around the stadium. Seth Rollins came out in Shield gear with a chair, but Roman Reigns took him out with a Superman Punch.

The Rock went to hit Cody with the weight belt, then The Undertaker’s gong hit, and the lights went out. Taker appeared in the ring behind The Rock as Rock was looking up the ramp. The Undertaker chokeslammed The Rock. The gong hit again, the lights went out, and The Undertaker disappeared.

When the lights came back on Rhodes and Reigns were in the ring with Rock’s weight belt and a steel chair. Roman grabbed the chair then looked at Seth Rollins in the corner and hit Seth in the back. After finishing up with Rollins, Reigns went for a spear on The American Nightmare, but Cody kicked him. Cody hit the Cross Rhodes twice and went for a third. Cody finally hit the third Cross Rhodes and beat Roman Reigns to finish the story and win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. After the match Cody celebrated with everyone as Mama Rhodes got in the ring and accepted the belt.

Cody then said he wouldn’t have made it to this point without Bruce Prichard and Triple H. He called them both out to the ring. They made their way down and Cody hugged Bruce Prichard. He shook hands with Triple H then they exchanged words in the middle of the ring. The celebration went on for several more minutes as Cody soaked in the moment. Kevin Owens was helping Seth Rollins make his way backstage when Cody stopped him and shook hands with Seth. He shook hands with Triple H again the celebrated in the ring as pyro went off.

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