In a whirlwind series of events, Cody Rhodes lost his WWE Championship at the turn of the year, then became the first man to declare himself for the 2026 Royal Rumble. Across the WWE roster, there are few performers more credible to win a Rumble than The American Nightmare, who has done it twice before, main-evented WrestleMania across the last three consecutive years, and certainly remains among the company's top stars.
Rhodes winning the Royal Rumble in 2026 is not the way to go, however. In consideration of the long-term prospects for Rhodes and the more immediate future for other talents on the Road to WrestleMania, WWE has to consider other choices.
Now Is Not The Time To Court Fan Backlash Against Cody Rhodes
An uncomfortable reality about Cody Rhodes is that while he may well be WWE's purest babyface and top draw, his time as WWE Champion was lukewarm—the first reign not nearly as exciting as the journey he took to get there, the second reign mostly outright flat. As such, having Rhodes positioned back in "finish the story" mode all but invites his detractors to get more vocal and for fans on the fence about him to climb on the bandwagon of deriding The American Nightmare.
In addition to fan fatigue with seeing Rhodes on top, right now it looks as though all that position would do would be to place him back into a program with Drew McIntyre. Both men are talented and they do have chemistry. The feud already felt long and largely stalled out, though, by their blow-off match in Berlin. Returning to it for WrestleMania of all shows, just a few months later, doesn't serve anyone's interests.
WWE Has To Think About Cody Rhodes's Future
While Cody Rhodes isn't exactly a youngster anymore, there's every reason to expect he has another five years or so to go in his prime and another five on top of that before he turns fifty, which, by modern standards and barring significant injuries, seems to be the point when top guys seriously eye retirement nowadays.
Could Rhodes tie Stone Cold Steve Austin as the only three-time Royal Rumble winners? It's possible, but hardly a certainty. It's all the less likely The American Nightmare will break through as the only four-time Rumble winner, though. As such, WWE should keep an eye on the future, leaving the possibility of Rhodes winning another Rumble for further down the road so they haven't booked themselves into a corner.
Indeed, just about every top star cycles in and out of world title contention. In the interest of returning to Rhodes as QB1 again at some point, it's best for WWE to show some restraint in the here and now.
Cody Rhodes Has Compelling Stories To Tell Away From Either World Title Picture
As the emergent issue between Cody Rhodes and Jacob Fatu has illustrated, there are interesting things for him to do away from either world title picture. Indeed, a serious feud with Fatu has demonstrated value in-ring and on the mic. Moreover, it offers a blueprint for The American Nightmare working with other less-established talents to get over fresh upper-card and main event-level acts.
Indeed, after Rhodes is done with The Samoan Werewolf, he has some unfinished business with Oba Femi from the final Saturday Night's Main Event of 2025, not to mention The Vision offering a fresh slate of opponents were Rhodes or the faction to flip brands or were WWE to erode the boundaries between Raw and SmackDown as they often do, especially around WrestleMania season.
Rhodes spending a year focused on heated personal issues and getting others over could be just the ticket for him to feel fresh in a world title picture again coming out of that experience.
There Are Better Choices For This Year's Royal Rumble
Winning a Royal Rumble is a unique accomplishment, itself just shy of—or arguably even on par with—winning a world title. It means going into the history books for winning what's usually one of the most memorable and entertaining matches of the year, besides booking a world title shot for WrestleMania.
The story of Cody Rhodes winning back-to-back Rumbles in 2023 and 2024 was largely excellent, paying off with an all-time great WWE moment when he finally pinned Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. That story's been told now, though. While Jey Uso winning the Rumble in 2025 was deeply polarizing, there's no denying it was a surprise and was instrumental in elevating a career tag team and mid-card act to bona fide main event status (at least for a few months).
There are other talents who could use their first Rumble win much more than Rhodes could use his third. Guys like Bron Breakker, Sami Zayn, and LA Knight immediately come to mind as acts that only need a small nudge to break through to a new level of stardom that this kind of victory can offer.
Finn Balor has newfound momentum and there is a story to be told of him scraping his way to another world title shot at WrestleMania this year. While he's already a main eventer, winning a Royal Rumble is among the few things Gunther hasn't accomplished yet and could help bridge the gap from being in the cast of top guys to being "the man" in WWE. Oba Femi could also make a truly iconic splash officially launching his main roster run with this kind of win.
On top of all the aforementioned options, Roman Reigns has to be considered a favorite, with only one Royal Rumble victory to his name, dating back over a decade at this point. The OTC has stayed away from the title picture for nearly two years now and is one of the more attractive options to challenge CM Punk or Drew McIntyre (assuming they carry their titles into WrestleMania).
With the possible exceptions of CM Punk and Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes is the top guy in WWE today. All indications are that he has years ahead of him in that role. That said, The American Nightmare doesn't need another Royal Rumble win, at least for now, and it's in WWE's best interest to look elsewhere for who wins the big match this year, kicking off the Road to WrestleMania 42.