Direct answer: Cody Rhodes beat Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 40 on 7 April 2024 to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. The Bloodline Rules match ended Reigns’ reign of 1,316 days and completed the story Rhodes had chased since his return to WWE.
WrestleMania 40 was built around one question: could Cody Rhodes finish the story? He had come close a year earlier at WrestleMania 39 and lost. He had won the Royal Rumble twice in a row to earn another chance. And standing in his way was Roman Reigns, a champion who had held the title for more than three and a half years and who had the whole Bloodline family behind him. What followed over two nights was one of the most talked about WrestleManias in years.
How did Cody Rhodes reach WrestleMania 40?
Rhodes won the 2024 Royal Rumble, his second Rumble win in a row, and pointed at Reigns to set up the title match. The build took a sharp turn when The Rock returned and joined forces with Reigns. Rock and Reigns, calling themselves the Final Boss and the Tribal Chief, made it clear that Rhodes would not get a fair fight.
Night one ended with a tag team match that decided the rules for night two. The Rock and Roman Reigns beat Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. Because of that result, the night two main event became a Bloodline Rules match, meaning anything goes and the Bloodline could interfere as much as they liked. It looked like the odds were stacked against Rhodes before the bell had even rung.
There was also a personal layer to the story. Rhodes wanted to win the championship his father, Dusty Rhodes, never held. Dusty was one of the most loved wrestlers of his era, but the WWE Championship always escaped him. His son made winning it the goal of his whole career, and he talked about it openly for years. That is why fans called it finishing the story.
What happened at WrestleMania 40?
WrestleMania 40 ran over two nights, 6 and 7 April 2024. These were the matches that mattered most.
| Match | Result | Title or stakes |
|---|---|---|
| The Rock and Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins (night one main event) | Rock and Reigns won | Night two main event became a Bloodline Rules match |
| Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns (night two main event) | Cody Rhodes won | Undisputed WWE Universal Championship |
| Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre, then Damian Priest cashes in | McIntyre won, then Priest beat McIntyre | World Heavyweight Championship |
| Iyo Sky vs Bayley | Bayley won | WWE Women’s Championship |
| Rhea Ripley vs Becky Lynch | Rhea Ripley won | Women’s World Championship |
| Gunther vs Sami Zayn | Sami Zayn won | Intercontinental Championship, ending Gunther’s 666 day reign |
| Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill and Naomi vs Damage CTRL | Belair, Cargill and Naomi won | Six woman tag team match |
The McIntyre and Priest sequence was one of the shocks of the weekend. McIntyre beat Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship, then Damian Priest ran to the ring with his Money in the Bank briefcase and cashed it in straight away, beating McIntyre within minutes to take the title himself.
Four titles changed hands across the two nights, all on night two.
| Title | Night | Old champion | New champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undisputed WWE Universal Championship | Night two | Roman Reigns | Cody Rhodes |
| World Heavyweight Championship | Night two | Seth Rollins | Drew McIntyre, then Damian Priest (cash-in) |
| WWE Women’s Championship | Night two | Iyo Sky | Bayley |
| Intercontinental Championship | Night two | Gunther | Sami Zayn |
| Women’s World Championship | Night two | Rhea Ripley | Rhea Ripley (retained) |
How the main event unfolded
The night two main event lived up to its Bloodline Rules label. It was not a clean wrestling match, and nobody expected it to be. Jimmy Uso interfered first, and his brother Jey Uso came out to stop him. Solo Sikoa appeared and attacked Rhodes. Then John Cena arrived to take out Sikoa, only for The Rock to come down and face Cena. The Undertaker’s music hit, the lights went out, and he appeared to take out The Rock. Seth Rollins then came to the ring in his old Shield gear, a final distraction that let Reigns hit him with a chair, but also gave Rhodes the opening he needed.
Rhodes hit three Cross Rhodes in a row and pinned Reigns in the middle of the ring. The crowd noise was enormous. His wife Brandi and his mother Michelle joined him in the ring, and the celebration went on for several minutes as confetti fell. It was the kind of ending that only works when the story has been built for years, and this one had been.
What the win meant
First, it ended one of the longest title reigns in modern wrestling. Reigns had held the championship for 1,316 days, a run that stretched back to August 2020. Very few champions in WWE history have held a world title that long, and the length of the reign is what made beating him feel so significant.
Second, it completed the Rhodes family story. Dusty Rhodes never won the WWE Championship, and his son winning it became the heart of the whole build. Rhodes spoke about his father constantly in the weeks before the event, and the win landed as a tribute as much as a personal triumph.
Third, it changed the shape of WWE. With Reigns beaten and The Rock stepping away after the event, the company moved into a new era with Rhodes as its top champion. He went on to defend the title through the rest of 2024, and the win at WrestleMania 40 became the moment his career is now defined by.
For fans who had followed Rhodes since his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 in 2022, the win felt earned rather than handed to him. He had lost the big one a year earlier, rebuilt, won the Rumble again, and finally got the job done on the biggest stage of all.
Frequently asked questions
Who did Cody Rhodes beat at WrestleMania 40?
Cody Rhodes beat Roman Reigns in the main event of night two to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. The match was contested under Bloodline Rules, meaning outside interference was allowed.
How long was Roman Reigns’ title reign before WrestleMania 40?
Reigns held the championship for 1,316 days, from August 2020 until WrestleMania 40 on 7 April 2024. It was one of the longest world title reigns in modern WWE history.
What are Bloodline Rules?
Bloodline Rules means a no disqualification match where members of the Bloodline family can interfere freely. The stipulation was set by the night one result, when The Rock and Roman Reigns beat Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.
What happened to Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40?
Rollins lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Drew McIntyre on night two. He also teamed with Rhodes on night one, losing to The Rock and Roman Reigns, and he interfered in the night two main event to help Rhodes.
Conclusion
Cody Rhodes’ win at WrestleMania 40 was more than a title change. It was the end of a three and a half year reign, the completion of a family story that began decades earlier, and the start of a new era in WWE. The match itself was chaotic, dramatic and unforgettable, which is exactly what the biggest show of the year should be. For Rhodes, it was the night he finally finished the story.
If you enjoy combat sports, you may also like our guides on how to choose a boxing glove size and how to wrap your hands for boxing.
