Watch: Top AEW star overcome with emotion at WrestleMania 40 after Cody Rhodes defeats Roman Reigns

Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns
Photo credit: Cody Rhodes' X account and WWE's website

Cody Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns at WrestleMania which caused a top AEW performer to be overcome with emotions.

Ricky Starks and Cody Rhodes have a long history together dating back to their days in AEW. In fact, Starks made his AEW debut against the American Nightmare and since then, the two men have become close friends. Starks even came out to the WWE arena to support Rhodes during one of his matches last year.

Given that this weekend was a big deal for Rhodes, Starks was in attendance when Cody pinned Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. A video of Starks went viral on social media showing the AEW star losing control of his emotions due to the sheer happiness of the moment.

Check out the clip here:


Cody Rhodes opened up about his win at WrestleMania 40

Ever since Cody returned to the WWE, he has made it clear that he wants to finish his story and become WWE Champion. He got his first shot at Roman last year but failed to win thanks to Solo Sikoa. That loss didn't deter him as he worked hard and earned another title shot again this year. However, the odds were heavily stacked against him with the addition of The Rock into the mix.

After losing his tag team match on night one, Cody walked into night two with impossible odds. However, he overcame those odds and managed to emerge victorious. This was an emotional moment for him given that this match almost didn't happen as WWE had planned for The Rock vs. Roman Reigns. However, the fans rallied behind him thereby forcing WWE to change their decision.

Following the win, Cody Rhodes appeared on the Pat McAfee Show where he stated that this win is validating because the match came into existence because of the fans:

"Oh! It feels just so sweet and it's validating because this main-event of yesterday's WrestleMania 40 was totally willed into existence by the fans. We were gonna go one way, thinking The Rock vs. Roman Reigns. They made it clear they wanted something else and we got to the finish line. Extremely validating." [From 0:46 to 01:06]

It will be interesting to see who will be the first person to challenge Cody for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

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