Fantasy Booking: WrestleMania and Beyond
WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles is four weeks away and we know that Cody Rhodes will challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship. Cody Rhodes returned to WWE at last year’s WrestleMania and entered into a two month feud with Seth Rollins that ended at Hell in a Cell. Cody had suffered a torn pectoral prior to the match and was out of action until he returned to win the 2023 Royal Rumble. Many fans are under the assumption that Rhodes will be the one to dethrone Reigns and end his record setting reign. However, not everyone think’s that it is Cody’s time I am one of them.
While I believe Cody should be WWE Champion at some point, I do not think it should happen at WrestleMania 39. There are plenty of other people who had way more momentum like Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn that should have been the one to dethrone Reigns. The Cody Rhodes angle feels forced and it’s not organic like the other scenarios were. This is not a knock on Cody. This is a knock on creative for putting him into forced situation that I’m just not buying into. We as fans and the media always feel like we would do something different. They call us armchair bookers or fantasy bookers. In this case, I would do something different that would make Cody’s story mean more then just going after an opponent he has no real history with.
At WrestleMania, Roman Reigns would go on to defeat Rhodes narrowly and begin celebrating in the ring. As Reigns celebrates and the legend of the Tribal Chief has grown even more, he gets hit with and RKO by a Legend Killer as WrestleMania goes off the air. Orton has been out since May 20th, 2022 with a very bad back injury. There was speculation that his career could be over, but there have been multiple rumors and reports that he recently had some new wrestling gear made in the event of his return. The last match Orton was involved in was against The Bloodline, so the story of him being injured by The Bloodline already rights itself. Orton wouldn’t get a championship match right away because he would have to prove himself.
Under his nostalgic Legend Killer persona, Orton would join forces with Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn at Backlash to take on The Bloodline in an eight-man tag team match. Orton would get the pin on one of the members of The Bloodline, which would lead to Orton vs. Reigns at the following Premium Live Event show. Orton would cut a promo leading up to the show, saying he is not interested in the WWE Universal Championship. He’s only interested in the WWE Championship. Orton is still the babyface in the scenario, but using his heel tendencies to get the better of Reigns. Orton would finally do what no one could do in almost three years. He would defeat Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship and split the titles back the way that they should be. Reigns record setting reign would still be intact, because he won the Universal Championship first.
Orton and Reigns would go their separate ways, but Cody Rhodes still wants the WWE Championship. Rhodes and Orton would enter into a feud with Orton going full blown heel again and Rhodes being the clear cut babyface. This is the story that is more believable because Rhodes spent nearly two years learning under Orton in the group known as Legacy. Their feud would culminate at Summerslam in Detroit, Michigan which would be poetic for Rhodes. After all, Dusty Rhodes was known as the common man and developed a blue-collar worker persona. It would be fitting for Cody to main event in a city that’s historically been known as a blue-collar city. Cody would go on to defeat Orton for the WWE Championship and finishing the complete story that didn’t get to happen during his first run in WWE. He would have defeated his mentor and someone who has became legendary through his own career accomplishments.
While Rhodes and Reigns currently feels forced, Orton entering the mix feels organic with many stories already built in. Orton is a fourteen time World Champion, which puts him two reigns behind Ric Flair and John Cena for most all time. I believe Orton deserves to be tied with both. He has been loyal to WWE his entire career and never really left to do other projects. I have no doubt when he returns, this will be his last run. He deserves to have meaningful stories and matches before he hangs the boots up for good.
I don’t armchair or fantasy book very often, but this idea has been in my head ever since I’ve read the rumblings of Orton’s return being imminent. The other option is you have Orton vs. Rhodes vs. Reigns in a Triple Threat Match, but Orton vs. Rhodes one on one seems much more meaningful. I will be very curious by what happens after WrestleMania and what direction they will go.
