The pinnacle of professional wrestling is not always about winning big matches or how many championships won. It’s about tickets that are sold, putting butts in seats, merchandise sales and gaining that overall attraction from the fans. One aspect of wrestling that truly constructs a superstar is aura. Having an aura is what creates that magic, and feeling that fans get when their favorite wrestler’s theme song hits as they walk through the curtain and it’s no better feeling than that. Look at legends like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Instant aura for both men who collectively led an entire era in wrestling and paved the way for today’s generation. WWE’s Chief Content Officer Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and even Booker T. They all obtain that aura amongst their own characters portrayed on tv and they generated a lot of money for the company.
In the current regime of the WWE, there’s two bonafide superstars that are neck and neck on who’s the biggest megastar right now. Current WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and the "OTC" Roman Reigns. These two men have main evented the last two Wrestlemanias (39,40) and both matches were complete and utter cinema. The aura between both superstars are astonishing based on what they respectively bring to the product. Everyone has their favorite between the two; however, who has the bigger aura?
On one hand, Vince McMahon hand picked Roman Reigns back in 2015 to overtake the mantle as the face of the company. As John Cena’s time on top was decreasing, a new change of the guard was needed. As a member of one of the greatest factions of all time, The Shield, Reigns’ upside looked very promising. From 2015 to 2020, he won titles, earned awards, defeated the biggest names in the business but the fans still rejected him. During this period, Reigns never organically got over with the audience due to the massive, and painfully obvious babyface push behind the scenes. When the supposed good guy is getting booed out of the arena nearly every single night, something needs to change. Due to a real life battle with Leukemia, Reigns took time off in 2019 and returned during the main event of Summerslam in 2020 between Braun Strowman and “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt as a heel and since then, times has changed drastically. From being absolutely hated and booed to being revered and actually cheered, Roman Reigns is now the guy that McMahon wanted him to be in 2015. Under a new persona as “The Tribal Chief” while becoming the Universal Champion, Reigns has carved a whole new lane for himself and gained a presence that no one ever expected out of him. Reigns carried the WWE as its champion for 1,316 days, nearly 4 years until he was defeated by none other than the “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes.
The son of the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, Cody was destined for glory and greatness in the WWE. At the age of 21, Cody made his first televised WWE debut match against Randy Orton. Even in defeat, it was the start of an amazing career. From 2007 to 2016, Rhodes would become a two-time Intercontinental champion, and a multiple time tag team champion. One would think that Cody’s time in the mid card would be up and a shot at a world title is on the horizon; however, during Cody’s first run in the WWE not once was he even considered a main event level talent. He was Randy Orton’s backup in the faction Legacy. He was “Dashing” Cody Rhodes then slowly turned into “Undashing” and in Cody’s own words, his “lowest point” in his wrestling career was portraying as Stardust before his eventual release that he asked for in 2016. During his WWE absence, Cody was all over the world to prove and show the world that he deserved to be in the spotlight. Much time has passed and he would assist in the creation of AEW (All Elite Wrestling) in 2019, which was practically built as a rival company towards WWE. Once he made a bigger name for himself in AEW after 3 years with the company, Rhodes felt like it was finally time to come back home, where it all started. Wrestlemania 38 was the return of Cody Rhodes with a new entrance, new catchy theme song, a whole new persona, character and brand new presence about himself that the WWE audience has never seen as he defeated Seth “Freakin” Rollins in the process. Since his return in 2022, Rhodes has been on a massive roll, only losing three matches and ultimately winning the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 40 from Roman Reigns.
Here are two wrestlers that both overcame adversities to become the stars they are today. Reigns and Rhodes have the look, the presence and accolades to each debately be the face of the company and carry the flagship into the next generation. Many fans go and forth upon who’s better between the two but make no mistake about it, when either of these superstars enter a room or an arena, everyone is on their feet.
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