It’s already been a huge year for Cody Rhodes as he became one of four men to win back to back Royal Rumbles and he went on to become the Undisputed WWE Champion when he defeated Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. The American Nightmare also challenged The Tribal Chief for the title at WrestleMania 39 last year. However, he famously came up short when Solo Sikoa interfered allowing Roman Reigns to get the victory.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that at the time Vince McMahon had the final say when it came to Cody Rhodes losing at WrestleMania 39, but Triple H didn’t disagree, so it would have happened either way.
Originally the plan was for Cody Rhodes to win as both Vince McMahon and Triple H were on board with the title win. Things reportedly changed behind the scenes as key points were argued and all parties agreed that the win would be stronger a year later. It was also argued that if Roman Reigns kept the title it would open up the possibility to turn Jey Uso into a major singles star.
Vince McMahon did make the final call regarding the result, but Triple H was on board, and it’s being said that it wasn’t a case of Vince overruling Triple H.