Mike Chioda Says Cody Rhodes Has To Fight Through WWE's Roster To Get To Roman Reigns

It's been over a month since Roman Reigns defeated Cody Rhodes to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the main event of WWE WrestleMania 39. It's currently unknown what exactly is next for both men now that Rhodes has been drafted to "Raw" and Reigns was drafted to "SmackDown." But when it comes to Rhodes potentially getting a rematch down the line, former WWE referee Mike Chioda believes "The American Nightmare" will have to fight through the roster first.

"I'm sure probably 75 percent of people thought Cody Rhodes was gonna get the title," Chioda said on a recent episode of "Monday Mailbag." "Like I said, I made that prediction, I thought Roman was going to keep it. Especially when I saw the Usos go down on Saturday night, I knew the other Uso wasn't going down Sunday."

Chioda said WWE needs to play to the fans, but he believes Rhodes' injury and missed time is what ultimately prevented him from dethroning Reigns. "Roman Reigns has gone through every bit of the roster since before I left WWE," Chioda added. "He's gone through every top guy in WWE, so I don't think they really thought that Cody deserved to come in in that short period of time and take away everything from Roman Reigns."

When it comes to who may eventually be "the one" to defeat Reigns, Chioda said it could still be Rhodes. He concluded, "If all goes well, it could be Cody nex year. With the beating he took after WrestleMania, it just goes to show he's gonna have to fight from underneath and go through this roster of WWE to get these titles."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Monday Mailbag" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.