WWE 2K26 Storyline Highlights the Darkest Day in Cody Rhodes’ In-Ring Career

February 2, 2024, is a night that Cody Rhodes and many of his fans likely prefer to think didn’t happen. It’s easier to pretend it didn’t happen. When he agreed, albeit temporarily, to give Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson his WrestleMania 40 match against Roman Reigns, it made him look weak, made him look foolish because who gives away a WrestleMania main event, and made his story to that point completely irrelevant to the company. Since his return to WWE, the American Nightmare has probably not had a more humiliating night—at least in many fans’ eyes. Instead of forgetting about it, however, WWE 2K26 takes a cheeky shot at it.

CM Punk may be the cover star, but there’s a huge roster in WWE 2K26 for developers to have fun with. One place they have more control than others is MyRise, which revolves around a fictional wrestler known as The Archetype making a comeback to the company. Depending on key choices, they may encounter Cody Rhodes along the way and reference that infamous moment in WWE 2K26.

Cody Rhodes – Time to Finish the Story

To recount what happened, Cody Rhodes lost to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 in his first bid for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. What followed was a series of side quests for Cody Rhodes that created some physical distance from the title, but at every moment, Rhodes still sold his desire to be that champion. In fact, when it comes to the number of appearances by Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns in the months between WM39 and WM40, it could be argued that Rhodes showed up like a champion.

Come the Royal Rumble in 2024, Cody Rhodes locked in his second straight win and then pointed to Roman Reigns. This message was clear to friends: it was time to finish the story. The next SmackDown, though, Cody Rhodes gave up two years of storytelling, so the Rock could face Roman Reigns—a dream match, for sure, but not one that superseded the dream of Cody Rhodes and the WWE title. During the WrestleMania XL: Behind The Curtain documentary, Triple H revealed he told Rhodes the plan at the Royal Rumble. In other words, Cody Rhodes went into business for himself when he pointed at Roman Reigns. As Triple H explained,

What followed was the #WeWantCody movement, massive downvotes to videos of The Rock and Roman Reigns confrontation, and a story that spiraled. The Rock was inserted into the storyline, but when it was all said and done, fans picked Cody Rhodes and wanted him to be the champion that (hopefully dethroned Roman Reigns). A dozen pivots and strange happenings later, Cody Rhodes stood tall over Roman Reigns in a Bloodline Rules match at WrestleMania 40, but that initial moment was a very strange stop on the road to WrestleMania.

Cody Rhodes – The 3X Royal Rumble Winner

Much like Cody Rhodes had a few side quests between WrestleMania 39 and WrestleMania 40, The Archetype’s story in WWE 2K26 has a few detours. It starts with The Archetype making a comeback from an absence (defined by their choice) and getting an instant title shot against Paul Heyman’s world champion, Bron Breakker or Jordynne Grace. Players are able to be a face or a heel, with there being plenty of opportunities for either a face turn or a heel turn. This manifests in a few story developments where the full gravitas isn’t revealed until later.

While it can unfold in a few ways, one storyline sees The Archetype unable to enter the Royal Rumble, and instead, Cody Rhodes goes on to win it for the third time. He even celebrates it on the social media feed of WWE 2K26. If players are a Heel, then they are dead set on inserting themselves into the Main Title picture against Bron Breakker at WrestleMania by any means necessary. This involves attacking Cody Rhodes and injuring him, with the player showing it live via the Titantron and dropping the coldest line possible:

Honestly, if someone were to say something similar in a real promo, I know I would suck all the air out of the room. Very few lines don’t get crossed in the world of WWE, but that should be one of them. So when my Archetype not only attacked Cody Rhodes but also said that to him, the shock I felt was palpable. Not nearly as palpable as my anger when The Rock tried to steal his WrestleMania Main Event, but yeah, it’s one of the better moments in MyRise.

It’s just a moment, but when so much of WWE can be summarized as such, it really stands out. Of course, it didn’t end there (although Rhodes was simply out of the picture afterward). The GM tried to host a triple threat to determine who would face Breakker at WrestleMania, but the Heel player takes them all out with targeted attacks, too. Following a promo with Paul Heyman, where Bron Breakker learns that Heyman has been manipulating events behind the scenes to prevent another match, Breakker and The Archetype agree to a match at WrestleMania. And there, The Archetype’s story came to a close.