Cody Rhodes & Roman Reigns teaming sets stage for interesting storytelling

The September 13 edition of WWE SmackDown set the stage for a big match at Bad Blood. Cody Rhodes will team with Roman Reigns to take on Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. Cody Rhodes’s title run has remained in the shadow of The Bloodline, causing many to complain about his time as champion. But this is a match that has the opportunity to kick off an interesting turn for not only the four men involved, but others orbiting this angle.

The two-year arc of Cody Rhodes “finishing his story” faced controversial twists and turns, but no one should be surprised it’s hit a point where Rhodes and Reigns are teaming together. While still behind the scenes, The Rock will eventually step forth as the one who is attempting to supplant Reigns as The Tribal Chief. But there’s still a lot of storytelling to happen between now and then. This chapter will bring Rhodes and Reigns closer together, while eventually causing him to split from his other allies, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens.

Rhodes and Reigns are coming together to face an enemy in The Bloodline. Their coming together shuns all the battles that Rhodes took on with Orton and Owens by his side. These two men have suffered at the hands of Reigns and his followers for years. Rhodes gave Owens a title shot based on the number of times that group screwed him over. In the on-screen story, Orton lost years of his career due to being attacked by The Bloodline. Both men will have an understandable anger toward Rhodes for making the decision to team with Reigns instead of leaving him to face the consequences of his own actions.

It will be interesting to see how WWE Creative plays this story out and for how long. Bad Blood is set for Saturday, October 5, and is followed by Crown Jewel on November 2 and Survivor Series: WarGames on November 30. That is nearly ten weeks of programming to advance this story. WWE is making the move to slow down its storytelling and giving this angle nearly three months to breathe before kicking off a major turn creates an opportunity for captivating professional wrestling and sports entertainment.

The work that Rhodes has done as champion outside of The Bloodline has been the best part of his reign. It looks like the two realities will merge much closer in this latest chapter.