Cody Rhodes, propelled to the top of American pro-wrestling after his victory at the Royal Rumble 2023, saw his dreams crumble and collapsed on the biggest stage in the world, WrestleMania. Beaten the next day on Raw, 24 hours after his humiliating defeat, the fall is all the more terrible. The son of ''The American Dream'' Dusty Rhodes will only be able to do one thing in WWE: keep dreaming.

A brief reminder of the facts. Cody Rhodes, son of the legend ''The American Dream'' Dusty Rhodes, brother of the famous ''Goldust'' (Dustin Rhodes), started his pro-wrestler career at just 21 years old in the biggest American pro-wrestling league, the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

In ten years of presence in the WWE, he twice seized the prestigious Intercontinental title, and had an average mi-carder run.

He became Tag Team Champion with Hardcore Holly, was a member of the ''Legacy'' faction with Randy Orton and Ted Dibiase Jr., became ''Dashing'' Cody Rhodes, and even wore a protective mask, then a mustache or even a painted face under Stardust's gimmick.

The latter will be the straw breaking the camel's back, logically bringing Cody Rhodes to extricate himself from his stagnant career, freeing himself from the chains and leaving the WWE juggernaut to create All Elite Wrestling (AEW), a new pro-wrestling federation, alongside the billionnaire Tony Khan.

After three years of success and having managed to finally create serious competition, Cody, finally becoming a real pro-wrestling star, decided to leave AEW and return ''home'' to win the supreme WWE belt.

His huge return at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, Texas, last year, lead him to a trilogy of incredible matches against Seth ''Freakin'' Rollins, and Cody even managed to put up a great fight in a ''Hell in a Cell'' despite performing hurt, having previously torn the pectoral muscle. A long rehabilitation put him on the sidelines for several months, and at the start of 2023, he returned as a hero to the Royal Rumble in San Antonio, TX, to win the prestigious battle royal and win a Championship match at WrestleMania.

The hero Cody Rhodes, symbol of the American dream, to the perfect success and to whom everything smiles, young, handsome, rich, famous, married to a beautiful woman, winner of the Royal Rumble... It was written in the stars that he finally dethroned the indestructible Roman Reigns.

And as usual... nothing goes as planned.

WrestleMania 39 and Raw in LA : the double penalty

“WrestleMania goes Hollywood”. Such was the catchphrase of this 39th edition of the extravaganza and biggest show of the year, organized in Los Angeles at the beginning of April 2023. We could not have found a better tagline: both the conclusion of this WrestleMania, and of the ''Raw'' that followed, is worthy of one of cinema's greatest tragedies.

Defeated in the main event of the ''Grandest Stage of Them All'', Cody is confused and prostrate. WWE did not want to listen to the fans, and remains stubborn on "its" Champion, Roman Reigns. The icing on the cake, Cody Rhodes was downright torn to pieces on Raw the next day.

While the white-hot public revels in being able to attend an anthology main event, Roman Reigns and his cousin Solo Sikoa facing Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar, his improvised partner for a night... this one turned against Cody Rhodes ! 

Brock Lesnar is a machine, a destructive cowboy who serves the WWE to annihilate Cody Rhodes. Several F5s, including one through the announcer's table and another one above steel steps, chair shots, German Suplexes, the surge of violence is intense.

As the medical teams bustle around Cody, Brock turns to him and hands him his two middle fingers...

The “executioner” Brock Lesnar: when reality surpasses fiction

Brock Lesnar is a machine created by WWE, he is the main attraction, the poster boy, Vince McMahon's right-hand man.

Now that Vince McMahon is regaining power in WWE, and was installed in the Gorilla Position (just behind the curtains) during this last episode of Monday Night Raw, it's entirely possible to imagine that Vince McMahon not only supported Triple H's will, but even amplified Cody's destruction.

The most horrible thing in this whole story is that it is likely that Cody Rhodes only learned of the sad outcome of this WrestleMania a few hours before the show, and that Vince McMahon himself changed the script of Raw just before airing live on USA Network to finish off Cody.

"VILE" McMAHON : revenge is a dish served cold

Cody Rhodes knows it, the cruelty of this two-headed hydra is very real.

In 2019, during a show of the newly created competing federation AEW, Cody Rhodes grabbed a sledghammer, the weapon of the ''Game'', to pulverize the throne of the King of Kings and symbolically destroy Triple H and the WWE. The latter never digested this affront.

For more than a year, Triple H plotted his revenge.

Under no circumstances will Cody be able to recover from this descent into hell.

On Raw, in this sold-out Crypto Arena, formely known as Staples Center, history continues and never ends. It's not Cody that finishes the Story, it's History that terminates Cody. That was always the plan, and Cody had no idea. Finish Cody Rhodes, the ultimate traitor whose betrayal will never be forgiven. 

In 2001, when WCW was taken over by the McMahon Empire, Booker T made his debut against Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The 5 times World Heavyweight Champion of Ted Turner's pro-wrestling company is mortified when he hears the People's Champion ask him on the microphone in front of a hilarious audience: ''Who in the blue hell are you?''

What happened at WrestleMania, and even more so at Raw, is historic and instructive.

This is an excellent lesson for all the defectors who have dared to go to competition: you never get rid of WWE, WWE never forgives, WWE never forgets. Never in life will a wrestler who has gone through AEW will beat the WWE Undisputed Champion. 

The situation in 2023 is much different, as AEW is far more competitive, filling arenas and stadiums and having an all-important TV deal with TNT, the same network which broadcasted WCW at the time.

If one day Chris Jericho wanted to return to Stamford, he now knows what to expect.

what future for cody rHodes ?

The field of possibilities is reduced to a trickle for Cody Rhodes.

Some beautiful dreamers imagine a rivalry with Brock Lesnar or a rematch against Roman Reigns to one day hope to recover the title. Nothing will happen.

Cody Rhodes will never be WWE Champion, and should logically go back down to the bottom of the map, becoming a simple ''jobber'', as they say in the pro-wrestling glossary, or worse, being offered the return of ''Stardust'' to make Cody even more ashamed.

There is nothing worse than this "Cody case". Rhodes is a human tragedy both personally and professionally. 

He did what he had to do but he unknowingly trapped himself. Cody thought he could escape and become the master of his destiny, but he hit a wall.

He may well be forgotten in a few weeks, and the WWE machine will keep moving forward, never hesitating to grind anyone who gets in his way.

As Goldberg would say... Who's next? 

Flaunting someone the better to destroy them proves that the cruelty of Triple H and WWE knows no bounds. To have hoisted Cody Rhodes almost to the top to better humiliate him and destroy him psychologically.

He himself thought he could win, he was convinced of it, when the plan from the start was to make him sink.

If at WrestleMania, Shane McMahon tore his quadriceps, it's nothing compared to WWE who tripped over the carpet.

They should be aware that the disappointment of the fans is immense and some members of the “WWE Universe” could well leave the ship and get disinterested in the product, disgusted by this immoral decision.

This disillusion must however be tempered, as the successes of the McMahon company are immense. WWE prides itself on having organized the most profitable WrestleMania in its history, and has just been bought by the juggernaut Endeavor for the modest sum of 9.3 billions $. The opinion of the fans are not that important.

The descent is brutal for Cody Rhodes. Finally, this edition of WrestleMania and the Raw that followed are typical of the human nature. Los Angeles, and Hollywood, is a bit like Dallas: a ruthless world. Decidedly, ''The American Nightmare'', sad nickname of Cody Rhodes, will never have worn its name so well...