Roman Reigns Returns At WWE SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes Retains Undisputed WWE Championship

Cody Rhodes finally defeated Roman Reigns to become the new Undisputed WWE Champion at WrestleMania 40 back in April, but The American Nightmare’s business with The Bloodline is far from settled.

In recent months Solo Sikoa’s new version of The Bloodline has been targeting Cody Rhodes and it was confirmed weeks ago that Cody would defend his title against Solo at SummerSlam. On the most recent episode of SmackDown, Solo suggested that they make the title match a Bloodline Rules match, and Cody accepted.

Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa main evented SummerSlam on Saturday night and Solo Sikoa made his way down to the ring without the other members of The Bloodline.

The American Nightmare got a special entrance as the cameras cut to him sitting down in his tour bus. Cody got off the bus and greeted his dog Pharoah who walked with him. Cody paused when he saw Arn Anderson backstage. Arn shook his hand then gave him a pep talk. He told Cody that he still has some influence, and Cody has friends that are on the way. Cody handed Pharoah off then put on his American Nightmare jacket.

Cody put on the skull mask before he made his way out into the stadium for his entrance. Rhodes entered the stadium and placed the mask on the ground. He shook hands with the fans while making his way down to the ring.

As soon as the bell rang the fans in Cleveland made it clear that they were not happy with Solo Sikoa. Cody ran the ropes and tried to knock Solo down, but it was Solo who knocked Cody down instead. Solo got the upper hand early on in the match, and he seemed to have a counter to every one of Cody’s moves.

After a few minutes Solo went for the Samoan Spike, but Cody countered with the Cody Cutter. He went for the Disaster Kick which Solo countered with a sit-out powerbomb. Solo continued to dominate the match for several minutes.

Cody tried to make a comeback as he hit Solo with the Cross Rhodes. However, Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa interfered and they tried to destroy Cody Rhodes. They hit Rhodes with a double team move and Solo pinned Cody for a two count.

Kevin Owens’ music hit and he ran down to the ring. Owens immediately brought the fight to The Bloodline, but he was outnumbered. Randy Orton then entered and took out Tama Tonga. He hit Tonga Loa with the RKO then Owens hit Tama Tonga with the Stunner. Randy hit Solo with a powerslam. Kevin Owens followed up with a frog splash. Cody Rhodes hit Solo Sikoa with the Cross Rhodes for a two count.

Randy Orton and Kevin Owens battled with Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa into the crowd. As they disappeared into the audience Cody Rhodes threw the steel steps into the ring. Cody hit Solo with the steps twice. He went to hit Solo a third time only for Solo to counter with a spear for a two count.

Solo Sikoa set the stairs up in the corner and placed Cody on them. He ran toward the corner but Cody moved out of the way, so Solo ran full speed into the steps.

Cody hit the Cross Rhodes then connected with a second Cross Rhodes. The American Nightmare went for the third Cross Rhodes as Jacob Fatu entered the match and took Cody out. Fatu hit a moonsault on Cody and placed Solo on top of Cody for a two count.

Jacob Fatu knocked Cody outside of the ring. He placed Cody Rhodes on top of the announce table. Fatu then went to the top rope and hit a splash on Cody through the announce table.

Solo threw Cody back into the ring then went to the top rope to hit a splash on The American Nightmare. Cody kicked out at two. Solo went for the Samoan Spike, but Cody collapsed. Cody hit a kick to Solo’s chin then a Cody Cutter from the top rope.

Roman Reigns’ music then started to play throughout the stadium and The Tribal Chief made his entrance to a huge reaction from the fans in attendance.

Reigns entered the ring and immediately hit Solo Sikoa with a Superman Punch followed by a spear. He looked at Cody Rhodes then looked out at the fans in the stadium. Roman Reigns looked at Cody again then exited the ring.

Cody stared at Roman as he made his exit and Roman stared back. The fans chanted “thank you Roman” as Cody hit the Cross Rhodes to retain the title. After Cody got the pin Roman closed his eyes and put his head down. Cody stared at Roman from the ring never looking away. Roman stared at the title then walked away.