Cody Ends Brock Lesnar With Three Cross Rhodes

Cody Rhodes beat Brock Lesnar in their rubber match with three consecutive Cross Rhodes.

Rhodes took a massive beating from Brock Lesnar amid a barrage of suplexes to open the match. The tides turned when Rhodes found an advantage and evened the odds with help from an exposed turnbuckle. Both Lesnar and Rhodes used Kimura Locks at points in this match. After Rhodes’ victory, Lesnar shook Cody’s hands, gave him a bear hug and raised his hand out of respect.

The latest leg of Cody Rhodes’ adversity tour took him through Hurricane Brock, where Lesnar utterly dominated their brawls on television. In addition to (kayfabe) breaking Rhodes’ arm, Lesnar laid Rhodes out in front of his family in Atlanta, Ga., while also getting the better of Rhodes this past Monday on Raw.

Rhodes, who recently premiered his critically acclaimed documentary, felt like a near-lock to get his heat back with a win given how strong Lesnar looked in recent weeks. Their matches were good-to-great, but it can be argued that Lesnar vs. Rhodes would have greatly benefited with a world title on the line.

For all the controversy behind Rhodes’ loss, Roman Reigns has not defended the WWE Universal Championship for well over 100 days—a historic stat in its own right—with zero defenses since his win over Rhodes. Reigns’ first world title defense will be against Jey Uso with the status of Tribal Chief on the line. The symbolic Tribal Chief beads almost render the WWE Universal Championship redundant. With no stipulation despite a rubber match, it now seems silly that Reigns vs. Uso III has two titles on the line wheres Brock vs. Cody III didn’t even have one stipulation.

Rhodes and Lesnar are both big enough stars to become any nagging issues related to this storyline, and when it was time to deliver an epic match, each was more than game. WWE seems intent on keeping Rhodes far away from the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for as long as possible as they bide their time until WrestleMania 40. Rhodes remains the favorite to challenge Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship in the main event.