Cody Rhodes On How His WrestleMania 40 Win Capped Off an Era For Wrestling

Cody Rhodes says his famous “finish the story” win at WrestleMania 40 started a new era for wrestling, but not because of him. Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns in an interference-heavy match at the 2024 WrestleMania to capture his first World Title in WWE. The win secured Rhodes’ position in the main event and was the culmination of a years-long goal to “finish the story” and win the World Title his dad never did.

Rhodes was asked by Andrew Schulz on Flagrant whether he thought the moment “bought years” for people being excited about wrestling. Rhodes said he didn’t know but explained how he felt it changed the era of wrestling for reasons that had nothing to do with him. You can see the highlights below:

On If the Match Reinvigorated Interest In Wrestling:

“I don’t know if I can answer that. But I can tell you that I know for a fact that it capped off an era and started a new [one]. And I’m going to take myself out of the equation in terms of — Netflix, I love that they posted it. They call it ‘the greatest five minutes in wrestling.’ And it’s the five minutes near the end of that match where I’m basically just laying on the mat while all this other stuff happens.

“You have the Final Boss, The Rock. You have the old sheriff of all of wrestling and a guy passing this knowledge down in the Undertaker. You have super genius Mr. Heyman on the outside. You have Jay Uso, you have Solo Sikoa. And then you have Roman Reigns. I would say that Roman on that night — regardless, I would just say Roman on that night changed our industry. So, it has nothing to do with me.”

On Why It Doesn’t Have Anything To DO With Him:

“It has nothing to do with me. If they — we had new management. We’ve got new potential distributors looking at the product, who want to buy the product, who want to show us to more households than we’ve ever been shown before. That moment, I would say, is not about me. I’m happy to be in it and I’m glad I’m in it.

So, I don’t know, to answer your question. I don’t know. If I was a heel, I would just say, ‘It’s the greatest moment of history wrestling’… again, that moment is 110% Roman Reigns.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Flagrant with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.