Did WWE book Cody Rhodes to lose at WrestleMania 39 because he came from AEW? Hall of Famer weighs in (Exclusive)
Teddy Long recently shared his thoughts on whether WWE booked Cody Rhodes to lose at WrestleMania 39 because he came from rival promotion, AEW.
In the lead-up to WrestleMania 39, virtually everyone believed The American Nightmare was the man to end Roman Reigns' historic title reign. However, the global juggernaut turned the tables when it had The Tribal Chief retained his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the event.
Since then, there's been a lot of speculation as to why Cody Rhodes lost, with many even thinking it had something to do with the fact that he came from AEW.
Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Time Machine podcast hosted by Mac Davis, Teddy Long addressed the same topic. The WWE legend believes Vince McMahon doesn't think along those lines but on what can draw more money.
"I don't think he thinks like that. I think he thinks, where's the money? That's how Vince sees; Vince sees the money. So I don't think it had anything to do with AEW. Vince just sees, 'If we do this, how much money can we make from the pay-per-view?' Anything that Vince does is about the dollar, man," said Teddy Long. (12:00 - 12:20)
Check out the full video below:
Dutch Mantell agrees with Triple H's explanation for Cody Rhodes' loss at WrestleMania 39
At the post-show conference after WrestleMania 39, Triple H stated that Cody Rhodes lost to Roman Reigns because the "story never finishes" in WWE.
On a recent episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell spoke about why he agreed with The Game's explanation. The former WWE manager added that even he approached booking on similar lines during his days.
"He described wrestling as what I always thought it would be. Because when I was in Puerto Rico, I applied the same thing he talked about. The story is never finished 'cause I have never wrapped up a story. And apparently, he's not gonna wrap up the story, and the reason I came to that conclusion in the first place is that wrestling fans don't forget. 'Wouldn't they have hated each other three weeks ago?' But if you have a story that connects, that in the fan's mind makes sense, that's why the story doesn't finish," said Dutch Mantell.
"EARN IT? I AM IT!"
Cody Rhodes challenges Brock Lesnar to a match at WWE Backlash in a fiery promo.
As expected, the audience is still strongly behind Cody. They'll be even more behind him when he gets his rematch.
The story continues.
#WWERAW #RAW #WWE twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/Jp3KgVfbJA
It remains to be seen if Cody Rhodes can regain his lost momentum and find his way back into the Undisputed Universal Championship picture.
If you take any quotes from the article's first half, please embed the YouTube video and credit Sportskeeda Wrestling.