Solo Sikoa breaks silence after pinning Cody Rhodes at WWE Money in the Bank
When Roman Reigns was The Tribal Chief of The Bloodline on WWE SmackDown one of his closest allies was Solo Sikoa. However following his loss at WrestleMania XL to Cody Rhodes, Reigns went on a hiatus, during which Sikoa replaced Reigns as leader of the faction and The Tribal Chief.
At Money in the Bank this past weekend, Sikoa achieved a rare feat as he pinned the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. At the premium live event, The Street Champion teamed up with Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu to defeat the team of Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, and Rhodes.
Sikoa led his new faction to victory in the main event of the show. While Tonga Loa stayed this one out. The bout also marked Jacob Fatu's WWE in-ring debut.
There have been rumors ahead of the event that Triple H and his creative team intend to book Sikoa as the Undisputed WWE Champion's next challenger. It appears to be that way as the 31-year-old has hinted at it on Instagram earlier today following his major win and anointment as the new Tribal Chief:
"It has begun..," Solo Sikoa posted.
With The American Nightmare eating the pinfall, all signs point to a SummerSlam headliner for Solo Sikoa. This is his biggest match to date, as the new Tribal Chief had not worked a lot of singles matches on major shows, aside from his defining victory over John Cena at Crown Jewel in November 2023.
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes comments on a heel turn
This is The American Nightmare's first world championship reign in World Wrestling Entertainment, a moment he has waited 17 years to get to. And he did it as a babyface loved unanimously.
During a recent sit-down interview on The Pivot Podcast, Cody Rhodes discussed a possible heel turn. He brought up Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's turn on the Road to WrestleMania XL as The Final Boss.
According to Rhodes, The Rock is not a proper heel as the latter is still beloved to a large degree, thanks to his work outside professional wrestling. Most notably, the fact that he is an accomplished actor who has even worked in Disney productions.
The Undisputed WWE Champion went on to state that if he is going to turn heel, then the only way to execute it to perfection is going old school. This means no merchandise sales. In his own words, it's basically when a superstar gets "canceled" that he truly embraces the heel persona:
"Today, people get canceled for everything...every hour somebody's getting canceled, then uncanceled whatever it may be. A heel's job is to get canceled, the heel's job is to not be cool, to not sell merch," he said.
WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker is convinced that The American Nightmare's best run is yet to come, and it will be as a heel.