Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Rhodes Reportedly Sold His Most Merch Ever at WrestleMania 40

Cody Rhodes finally finished his story over the weekend at WrestleMania 40 by beating Roman Reigns for the undisputed WWE Universal Championship, and he reportedly set a new personal mark in the process.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), over $1 million worth of Rhodes merchandise was sold during WrestleMania weekend at WWE World and on WWE Shop.

Per Fightful, that surpassed Rhodes' previous personal best, which had been set last year during WrestleMania 39 weekend.

Many fans were firmly behind The American Nightmare in his quest to beat Reigns and win the title that his father, WWE Hall of Famer "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, never could.

Rhodes faced adversity after he and Seth Rollins lost to Reigns and The Rock in a tag team match on Night 1 of WrestleMania, meaning the Night 2 main event would be contested under Bloodline rules.

As expected, there was a ton of interference during the match with Bloodline members The Rock, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa getting involved, but Cody had plenty of backup in the form of Rollins, John Cena and The Undertaker.

In the end, Rhodes hit Reigns with three consecutive Cross Rhodes to beat The Tribal Chief and end his 1,316-day reign as world champion.

A sizable portion of the WWE fanbase was disappointed when Reigns beat Rhodes at WrestleMania last year, but given how the WWE Universe has gotten even more behind Cody since then, it is difficult to argue against the notion that WWE made the proper booking decision.

The Rock Reportedly Receives over $9 Million in TKO Stock

Via his position as a member of the TKO Group Holdings board of directors, The Rock reportedly received a significant amount of stock over the weekend.

According to a filing received by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, The Rock was granted 96,558 shares of TKO stock, which carries a value of around $9.41 million.

Per the filing, the previously restricted stocks vested on Sunday after The Rock completed "certain services described in that Independent Contractor Services and Merchandising Agreement," which was signed on Jan. 22.

The Rock officially joined the board of directors in January, and that is also when he started to tease involvement in WrestleMania 40.

On an episode of SmackDown in early February, The Rock confronted Reigns and it seemed as though they were going to face each other at WrestleMania, but the decision was instead made for Reigns and The Rock to join forces against Rhodes and Rollins.

The Rock and Reigns beat Rhodes and Rollins in the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 40, and The Rock got involved in the Night 2 main event between Reigns and Rhodes, but he was taken out by The Undertaker.

On the ensuing episode of Raw, The Rock confronted Rhodes and made it clear that a one-on-one match between them is going to happen in the future.

The Rock quickly established himself as the hottest heel in wrestling, and given his position of power within TKO, he figures to have significant influence over the product and his character for a long time to come.

Reigns Reportedly Not Advertised to Appear Until August

After dropping the undisputed WWE universal title to Rhodes at WrestleMania, Reigns could be in line for a lengthy absence from WWE programming.

According to Wrestle Ops, WWE is not advertising Reigns for his next appearance until the final SmackDown prior SummerSlam in August.

Even during his championship reign, The Tribal Chief was often gone for weeks or even months at a time while working a part-time schedule.

Reigns beat Rhodes to retain his title at last year's WrestleMania, but entering WrestleMania 40, it was widely assumed that Reigns would indeed take significant time off if he were to lose.

It remains to be seen if that will be the case, but since The Rock teased a match against Rhodes on Raw, it would make sense for Reigns to stay off WWE programming, potentially until after that happens.

Given how important the world title was for Reigns, it seems likely that he will target the title whenever he returns.

It is also difficult to envision fans booing Reigns upon his return, which means he may have no choice but to become a babyface.

All of that could lead to a match between Reigns and The Rock at some point, especially if The Rock beats Rhodes for the world title along the way.

Reigns will be sorely missed until he returns, but there is no question that WWE is in good hands with Rhodes and many of its other top stars carrying the company until Roman is back in the fold.

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