Roman Reigns Anointed Cody Rhodes His Successor \u2014 And He\u2019s Not Wrong

Roman Reigns says Cody Rhodes is the only WWE star who’s ‘carried the banner.’ Here’s why that endorsement matters more than any title reign.

Roman Reigns doesn’t hand out compliments like candy. For a decade, the man has operated with the confidence of someone who genuinely believes he’s the most valuable person in any building he walks into \u2014 and, frankly, he’s usually been right. So when Reigns sits down for an interview and openly names one person he sees as capable of doing what he’s done, that’s not idle promo talk. That’s a torch being pointed in a very specific direction.

In a recent conversation with Complex, Reigns made clear that when he looks around the WWE locker room and asks who’s actually built to shoulder the weight of the entire company, he sees exactly one name: Cody Rhodes. As we covered in our breakdown of Reigns naming Cody as the only star who’s carried the banner, that’s a striking thing for the guy who defined the last era to say out loud. Let’s talk about why it lands.

What \u201cCarrying the Banner\u201d Actually Means

For newer fans, \u201ccarrying the company\u201d isn’t about being champion. Plenty of people hold belts. Carrying the company means being the person whose name is on the marquee, whose match closes the show, whose media obligations pile up, and whose performance sets the ceiling for everyone around him. It’s the difference between being a top guy and being the guy.

Reigns knows this better than anyone because he lived it \u2014 through a rejection era where crowds booed him out of buildings, through the pandemic, and then through his historic run as Tribal Chief that rehabilitated him into one of the most respected acts of his generation. He earned the right to speak on what the job costs. And what he’s essentially saying is that Cody Rhodes is the only current babyface who’s proven he can absorb that pressure and thrive under it.

Cody’s case for the crown is airtight. He left WWE as a mid-card afterthought, co-founded a rival promotion, drew money, and then came back on a mission that felt personal in a way modern wrestling rarely does. \u201cFinishing the story\u201d wasn’t a slogan \u2014 it was a genuine emotional through-line that fans invested in. When he finally got there, it felt earned rather than booked. That’s the exact quality Reigns is pointing at.

The Cody Full-Circle Moment Makes This Even Sweeter

Here’s the timing that makes Reigns’ endorsement feel almost poetic. Just as the conversation about Cody’s status hits fever pitch, Cody made a surprise appearance on AEW Dynamite for the first time in four years \u2014 a reminder that this is a man whose fingerprints are on the entire modern wrestling landscape, not just one company’s booking sheet.

Think about the arc for a second. Cody helped build a promotion from the ground up during his years away, proving he could be a locker-room leader and a draw without the machine behind him. Then he walked back into the biggest company in the industry and climbed to the top of it. That dual resume is something Reigns himself doesn’t have. Reigns is a WWE lifer, a company man in the best sense. Cody has done the corporate ascent and the entrepreneurial grind. When Reigns says Cody has \u201ccarried the banner,\u201d he’s implicitly acknowledging that Cody carried a banner Reigns never had to.

That’s not a knock on Reigns. It’s context. And it’s why this particular endorsement, from this particular person, carries so much weight. The Tribal Chief doesn’t need to prop anybody up. He gains nothing by inflating a rival’s stock. He’s saying it because he believes it.

Why This Endorsement Matters More Than a Belt

Titles come and go. Reigns himself has held every version of the top prize and, as he’s made clear, is now openly thinking about the back end of his career. As we noted when Reigns signaled retirement is coming but not yet, he’s talking about \u201ca couple to a few years\u201d left, some loose ends, and legacy matches. Reading those two stories side by side, the picture snaps into focus: this is a guy actively thinking about what he leaves behind, and who he leaves it to.

That’s the real headline here. Reigns isn’t just paying a compliment \u2014 he’s doing succession planning out loud. When the defining star of an era publicly names his heir, it does something that no championship win can replicate: it grants legitimacy. Fans can argue about booking decisions all day, but there’s an emotional authority to \u201cthe last guy says this is the next guy.\u201d It’s the wrestling equivalent of a passing-of-the-torch handshake, except delivered in an interview instead of a ring.

And it protects both men. It elevates Cody without diminishing Reigns. It frames whatever they’ve done \u2014 and whatever they might do again \u2014 as a genuine dynastic rivalry between two eras rather than a simple heel-versus-face feud. That’s how you build history that fans remember for decades.

Where This Realistically Heads

Here’s my read. Reigns publicly anointing Cody is the kind of framing that sets up one final, definitive chapter between the two. Not because anything’s been announced \u2014 it hasn’t \u2014 but because this is exactly how you’d lay narrative track if you wanted the Tribal Chief’s eventual sunset to mean something. You don’t want Reigns to fade out. You want him to hand the company off on-screen, and Cody is the only opponent whose victory over him would feel like a genuine generational shift rather than just another win.

The smart money says WWE lets this simmer. Reigns has years left by his own admission, and there’s no rush to cash in the ultimate version of Reigns vs. Cody as a passing-of-the-torch epic. But every interview like this one is a brick in that wall. When Reigns finally does step back, the groundwork will already be laid for Cody to be positioned not as the guy who beat him, but as the guy he chose.

The best part? It’s believable because it’s true. Cody really has carried a banner. Reigns really is the standard. This isn’t a manufactured storyline \u2014 it’s two of the biggest names in the business acknowledging reality, and reality is almost always the strongest angle there is.

Do you buy Reigns’ read that Cody is the only one built to carry WWE \u2014 or is he selling one guy short of a deeper roster? Drop your take in the comments.