Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes Ushering in The Era of Monster Babyfaces in WWE

WWE has long history of unprecedented success in eras where two top, iconic babyfaces ruled the main event scene at the same time. Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage fueled the golden era of the Federation Years. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock led the Attitude Era explosion in the late 1990s.

As the Paul Levesque Era of modern day WWE writes its own place in history, the company the era's namesake Chief Content Officer are cooking, with the help of a familiar recipe.

Cody Rhodes is the reigning undisputed WWE champion and No. 1 babyface in the company. He finished his story on the grand stage of WrestleMania XL and is the undeniable top merchandise seller in the company. His popularity is organic and can be traced back to his decision to leave the company back in 2016 to become a star of his own making.

The man he defeated to win the title, Roman Reigns, dominated pro wrestling as its top star for four years. He rewrote modern wrestling history and was at the forefront of the greatest storyline in WWE history. A hostile takeover by Solo Sikoa in his absence necessitated a babyface turn that suddenly has The Tribal Chief as popular among the WWE faithful as he ever has been.

So much so that some worry that Reigns' popularity may adversely affect The American Nightmare's and cause the champion, who worked so hard to become WWE's top dog, to be overlooked or to take a back seat to The Head of the Table.

History suggests otherwise.

Competition has always fueled excellence in the company. Hogan and Savage made for historically great opponents and tag team partners, not only because of their superb chemistry in and out of the ring, but because they drove each other to be better.

Each believed they were number one and pushed the other to prove otherwise.

Ditto Rock and Austin.

There is no reason to believe that will not be the case with Rhodes and Reigns.

Both overcame hurdles and frustrations earlier in their careers to make it to this point. Rhodes knows the grueling climb he made to the top of the pro wrestling industry, by way of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and All Elite Wrestling. Reigns overcame the rejection of fans and a second battle with leukemia to become the top heel in the industry as part of a run destined to bring him to this point.

Both have put their life's work into reaching this point and anyone thinking either is going to allow the other to overshadow them is sadly mistaken.

Iron sharpens iron and the competition for the fans' hearts and that coveted top spot in pro wrestling will make both Superstars better. It will strengthen the overall product, too, and fans will invest in the characters and shows accordingly. Considering the rich history that exists between them and their shared hatred for Sikoa and the revamped Bloodline, they can realistically accomplish all of that as opponents or tag team partners.

Either will help continue the unprecedented success WWE has enjoyed over the last two years with Levesque at the helm.

How the CCO handles the booking of those two, especially since he has yet to be in a position where he has two legitimate top guys in the role of babyface at the same time, will be key. Still, no creative move he had made to this point has been cause for concern that he will somehow mishandle this one.

The American Nightmare and The Tribal Chief are ushering in a new era of historic business in WWE while hearkening back to others, when two polar opposite personalities dominated the industry and gave fans with different tastes two Superstars to through their support behind.

If their story follows suit, fans are in for their most engaging WWE product since the height of the Attitude Era and the most epic one-two punch of top guys since ol' Stone Cold and The Rock led the last wrestling boom.