The Rock and Cody Rhodes are Overshadowing Roman Reigns

Roman Reigns is the face of WWE, the top star in all of professional wrestling, yet the last couple months have moved away from him slowly but surely.

Cody Rhodes is the most popular star in WWE, dominating merchandise sells and filling arenas for his every appearance.

The Rock is back and the talk of every major media outlet that is remotely interested in talking about WWE.

These three names plus Seth "Freakin" Rollins in a somewhat lessened role are the focus of WWE on the road to what the company has labelled the "biggest WrestleMania of all time".

However, there is a clear hierarchy within this group that leaves The Tribal Chief near the back. Somehow, the Undisputed universal champion is behind two men who have not held singles gold in years.

Why is The Tribal Chief having trouble standing out next to Rhodes and The Rock? There are four key reasons.

The Overshadowed Story

When Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39, it set up a redemption story that took a full year to come together. Unfortunately, much changed on the road to Cody Rhodes' redemption.

In particular, The Rock returned to set the stage for his own epic battle with The Tribal Chief.

While WWE pushed the story back on track for Rhodes, this still left a tension between The American Nightmare and The Great One that will not be resolved soon.

A tag team match may be planned for Night 1 of WrestleMania 40, but there is more heat between Rhodes and Rock than can be resolved in a tag match.

This future feud is fresh and has pushed attention away from The Tribal Chief. What The Rock will do next has been talked about more than the Night 2 main event of WrestleMania.

The Rising New Star

For the first time in a long time, WWE has a star that can truly rival the aura of Roman Reigns, and fans have completely bought into him.

Cody Rhodes is very clearly the top babyface in WWE. It is a wonder WWE has waited this long to crown him, but the wait has only solidified his position.

While The Tribal Chief will forever hold the record for one of the longest world championship reigns of all time, The American Nightmare may already be the bigger star, especially given recent merchandise sales.

Fans respond louder for Rhodes and have accepted his story more than Reigns' despite how much has been invested in The Bloodline.

It is time to make a change, and perhaps waiting too long had led to fans already writing off Reigns.

Legend in Top Form

The Rock is one of the greatest of all time, and his return to WWE has made an immediate impression, especially since his heel turn.

He has cut strong promos consistently, including a vicious 21-minute roast he posted on Twitter.

While The Great One is delivering passionate promos just for Twitter, Reigns is appearing less frequently and standing behind Rock most often.

It recently has felt like the end goal is more obviously Rhodes vs. Rock than Rhodes vs. Reigns.

It is hard to match arguably the most charismatic man in wrestling history, However, Reigns needs to find a way to sell his own angle with Rhodes as more heated and interesting than The Rock's.

A Title Reign Growing Stale

By the time WrestleMania 40 comes around, Roman Reigns will have held the Undisputed Championship for over 1,300 days. He is making history at a level fans have not seen in decades.

However, there is a reason that modern wrestling cannot typically match the lengthy reigns of the past. With so much television weekly, fans can disconnect much faster with a story or talent these days.

Fans have seen The Tribal Chief defeat everyone on his path to success. He has left so many worthy world champions in his wake over these three years.

The World Heavyweight Championship had to be reinstated to give talent more to fight for, but Seth "Freakin" Rollins is the only one that has benefited from that move so far.

In most of the past year, fans have simply waited for the rematch of Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes. Matches like LA Knight and Jey Uso felt big, but no one was ready to fully believe The Tribal Chief would lose his title anywhere but at WrestleMania.

It has not helped the two men doing his bidding have also lost steam. Solo Sikoa went from undefeated to repeatedly beaten in 2023 while Jimmy Uso cannot find his own credibility.

Even finally getting to the match the WWE Universe has awaited, the result is becoming almost painfully predictable, allowing fans to think past The Show of Shows to what could already be next for Rhodes.

Possible Solutions?

Roman Reigns needs to remind fans of who he is. He needs to get a chance to speak for himself without The Rock in the ring with him.

The Tribal Chief must take actions that are dictated by him rather than The Great One.

That may mean leaving The Bloodline behind and taking out Cody Rhodes on his own when The American Nightmare least expects it.

Most importantly, Reigns needs to be able to step up to The Rock. While The Great One has acknowledged The Tribal Chief, Reigns needs make him show his loyalty.

If this story does not evolve to focus back on The Tribal Chief, Reigns could very well lose his position near the top of the card along with his world championship at WrestleMania.