Triple H Shocked as Lesnar Unexpectedly Endorses Rhodes!

Cody Rhodes won the rubber match against Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam last night (Sat., Aug. 5, 2023) at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, pinning him clean after three straight Cross Rhodes. It was about as strong of a win, both individually in the match and overall in the feud, as anyone should ever reasonably expect to get against someone like Lesnar.

Then, in a surprising turn of events, Lesnar stuck around to actually give Rhodes an emphatic endorsement, raising his arm in victory and shaking his hand while still selling for him. It was a clear message of just how high up the ladder Cody has made it.

If we’re to believe Triple H, who spoke on as much during the post-show press conference, that endorsement was entirely unplanned:

“I will mention, I heard Cody say he hadn’t digested or had enough time to really digest the Brock Lesnar moment after their match. Completely unplanned. Completely in the moment. For me, you know Brock Lesnar is such a unique athlete, human being, all those things, but he really, I don’t believe, gets the credit he should at being one of the all time greats at this.

“Unbelievable athlete at the highest of levels, UFC at the highest of levels, you could make the argument — and would be accurate — the greatest combat athlete of all time. But just talking about sports entertainment, just this, in my opinion one of the greatest of all time. I don’t think because his style is different because the way he does it is different than anybody else, truly really is a generational talent for this. Name the amount of people that Brock Lesnar has gotten up, after going through a match like that, shook their hand and pulled them in to hug them before walking out, right? … So when Cody realizes what happens… that’s a moment.

“And if that doesn’t state to you where Cody is at, where this journey has taken him; where this journey has taken him from what many people questioned at WrestleMania to where he is now, like that rise just continues to be phenomenal and he delivers at all turns. So it’s awesome.”

If that’s true, it makes the moment that much more special but even if it’s not and they were always going to do that, it’s still significant. That just isn’t something you ever see Brock Lesnar do.

And like Triple H said, it says a lot about where Rhodes sits in the hierarchy at WWE right now. For me, if I wasn’t already convinced they were going to go back to Rhodes vs. Reigns for the main event of WrestleMania 40, I’m definitely convinced of it now.