Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes has the potential to be a quality SummerSlam feud

Cody Rhodes’ return to WWE sent shockwaves through the industry. But long before his music hit at WrestleMania 38, there were rumors of his intentions to return ‘home,’ for lack of a better term. Well, not only did he return in all his glory, but he and Rollins had the greatest match of the event arguably. In this piece, we’ll be taking a closer look at just why Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes has the potential to be a quality SummerSlam feud.

A match for the ages

If we can take the amount to look back on the spots from the WrestleMania match between the two, we’ll see a match that no doubt will be heralded for the rest of time, or rather it most definitely should be, and for a plethora of reasons.

Just to name a glaring reason, I’d say that the match showcased a tad more in the vein of ‘professional wrestling’ and not so much ‘sports entertainment,’ which is what promotions like ROH, AEW, and so many others on the indies are known for. Cody brought a little of that with him and right across the ring from him was of course Seth “Freakin” Rollins, who has been to many of the same places as Cody, but in reverse of course.

The match was the perfect culmination of our respective expectations and it delivered on all fronts.

This is why the rematch set for Backlash is the perfect way to go…giving the fans yet another masterpiece and all before they give us the final act…. Act three is the one that everybody remembers, as Dwayne Johnson once said when speaking of his 3 famed WrestleMania matches with Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock winning the last of the 3 at WrestleMania 19 in 2003.

Understanding Cody’s journey

This is a man who was raised behind the scenes at WCW. He was there a lot with his father, and he watched eyes wide as his father did business, wrestled, and interacted with the boys backstage, which is one of the greatest ways to learn…picking up the business by osmosis somehow.

Believe it or not, he started as a referee in his father, Dusty Rhodes’ promotion, Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. Then he entered the system himself, studying at Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2006, which of course was WWE’s then developmental territory. Alum from that territory are of course John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Batista, Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley and the list goes on. This was the era even before FCW and of course later, NXT.

He had quite a career in WWE until he didn’t. As is common in WWE, his experience there became a tad stale, especially when looking at the Stardust character. And when he was asked to take a smaller salary by Triple H, well that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He decided to venture out and make a career of his own, so to speak, on the independent circuit and he didn’t just do that.

He dominated in NJPW, Impact, ROH, and helped launch the biggest wrestling promotion since the inception of WWE and WCW in AEW, and only to return where it mostly all started for him. Why? What was it all for?

I think he made that clear enough in his promos on Raw since he premiered back in WWE at Mania: The WWE Championship. But before he can get to that threshold, there’s one obstacle in his way…the greatest one they could have chosen for him, really: Seth Rollins.

It was while speaking to Variety that he spoke about his return, the reasons behind it, and what he told WWE chairman, Vince McMahon, and Vince’s inner circle. Here’s some of what he said:

"“I told Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard and Nick Khan — this very small circle of individuals — I told them what I truly believe and it’s that I’m the best wrestler in the world. And to go further with it, I actually don’t think there’s a close second. But with that said, the opportunity now exists to prove it, and that’s what I’m most excited about…It’s a completely different individual returning to the game. It’s a different brand. It’s someone who’s experienced all the wonders of independent wrestling, of traveling internationally, of being able to get on the ground with the fans that make this whole ship move. But different person or not, I’m still that little kid that I mentioned in an AEW promo that wants what my dad didn’t get, and I’m not going to say it out loud because I don’t want to jinx it…But, you know, he went to Madison Square Garden, stood across from Superstar Billy Graham and he held it in his hands, the goal of mine, and it was taken away because that was the context of the match. I understand that now as an adult, but as a kid, that was the only reason I ever wanted to get in, so that I could get what he didn’t get.”via Variety / nodq.com (Transcription)"

The perfect storm

Like the Austin and Rock feud, I mentioned earlier in this piece, wrestling feuds that span a larger amount of time than just a month are the ones that are remembered for decades. To name a few: Cena vs. Edge, Rock vs. Cena, Macho Man vs. Hogan, Austin vs. McMahon, Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart, Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart, Randy Orton vs. Triple H…and the list goes on, dear readers.

It was just in 2021 that Seth Rollins himself was in a feud with the aforementioned Edge, and that went on for quite some time, spanning three epic PPV matches that will also go down in history, culminating in a spectacular Hell in a Cell Match that took the cake in Saudi Arabia at Crown Jewel 2021.

In this case now with Cody and Seth, you most definitely get the perfect storm effect because you have the ace of the WWE roster…a man who’s wrestling week in and week out, proving that there are indeed ‘professional wrestlers’ in WWE (and there are many of them there despite their respective gimmicks, believe me); with the returning Cody Rhodes to face him, what could be better?

Rollins wants to prove himself, upset at his loss at Mania. His obsession will get the better of him; he will try and try to outdo Cody and perhaps he might win the rematch at Backlash, but what’s that Dwayne said about act three? Oh yeah….

And what other event could be the perfect setting for Act 3 between Rollins and Rhodes than SummerSlam? And if by that time one of them has the strap, the odds of making it even more of a match to remember just tripled or rather quadrupled, folks. Fingers crossed, dear readers.