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WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes is headed to WrestleMania 41 to defend his Undisputed WWE Championship against John Cena. With The Show of Shows being just 29 nights away, The American Nightmare didn’t make an appearance on this week’s episode of SmackDown.
Here are three reasons why Rhodes didn’t show up in Bologna, Italy.
#3. Cody Rhodes had already made an appearance on WWE RAW
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This week’s episode of the red brand's show saw John Cena make his first appearance since his heel turn at the Elimination Chamber. The Brussels crowd let the world know what they thought of his recent actions - They booed him loudly and John Cena sucks chants rang loud at the winner of the Men’s EC Match. In response, the 16-time WWE world champion explained that he was done people-pleasing and would now wrestle for himself, breaking his 25-year-long toxic relationship with the fans.
Cody Rhodes entered the arena to speak to his 'Mania challenger. He said that Cena was made to carry all the love and hate of the people because they deemed him worthy of carrying it. Ending the segment, he asked The Cenation Leader to fight him at WrestleMania as the real John Cena, and not the 'whiny b***h' he had become.
This was a powerful promo by both superstars. Thus, another appearance by The American Nightmare wasn’t necessary. Additionally, WWE is careful about not dragging a story with multiple appearances and diluting the results of good segments.
#2. John Cena may not have been available for SmackDown
John Cena is currently on his WWE farewell tour. However, the Hollywood star is also working on other projects and isn’t working on an unlimited schedule. Thus, there is a chance that the 16-time world champion might not have been available for tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
In the absence of his challenger, WWE may have decided to keep Rhodes off programming as well. Without his WrestleMania 41 opponent, The American Nightmare would have just delivered a monologue, with nobody to interrupt or ambush him during his segment. He has already done one such segment on RAW two weeks ago, and the company could have simply not wanted their champ to repeat himself.
#1. Making space for Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and CM Punk
The final segment of Friday Night SmackDown saw CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns exchanging a few words before erupting into a brawl. The segment showed the deep enmity between the three top stars for each other and a few seeds of mistrust between the OTC and Paul Heyman.
The brawl saw all three men have their brief moments of dominance, while also pointing at the WrestleMania 41 sign. Featuring Cody Rhodes on the same night in a non-premium live event show would have taken away some focus and spotlight from this segment. Especially when the Undisputed WWE Champion is loosely connected to all three stars in ongoing storylines.
It would be interesting to see what is next for The American Nightmare.
