Story finished: Cody Rhodes wins Undisputed WWE Universal Championship

The story is finished.

The odds were stacked against him, but Cody Rhodes has ascended to the top of WWE by beating Roman Reigns to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion and capture the title he long sought in honor of his dad.

It didn't seem possible since the match was under Bloodline rules, a no disqualification match in which all of the members of Reigns' faction were allowed to interfere however they wanted. But Rhodes got help to lead him to glory.

Rhodes tried to bring weapons into the match early, but Reigns wasn't having any of it. Instead, the champion used a kendo stick on the challenger. Rhodes was able to get out of the sticky situation and used Ric Flair's figure four leg lock in an attempt to get a submission, which wasn't successful.

The fight escalated into the crowd and Rhodes suplexed Reigns off the barricade. Once it got back into the ring, Reigns caught Rhodes with a power bomb and took control of the match. Reigns even took a page from his opponents book when he used a Cross Rhodes on the challenger.

Rhodes got on offense and delivered the bionic elbow on Reigns, leading to the match going outside of the ring. A low blow from Reigns turned the momentum again, and the champion did a power bomb to send Rhodes through the announcer's table. He went to finish it off, but Rhodes kicked out. Rhodes then went the Reigns route with a spear on the champion, which ended in an unsuccessful pin.

Once Rhodes looked to be closing in, Jimmy Uso came to the aid to superkick Rhodes. Jey Uso came out to take out his twin brother by spearing him off the ramp in a crazy spot. When Rhodes got momentum again, Solo Sikoa came to Samoan spike Rhodes. A spear Samoan spike combo was used, but Rhodes kicked out.

Then came John Cena, who delivered an attitude adjustment to Reigns and Sikoa. But then The Rock showed up to deal with Cena in another epic faceoff between the two. A Rock bottom was hit on Cena, and Seth Rollins came in to help, but he was Superman punched. Then The Undertaker came out and choke slammed The Rock in a wild sequence.

Rhodes then finally got the three Cross Rhodes he longed to get on Reigns. He got the pin to become champion and finish the story.

When Rhodes returned to WWE in 2022, he said he came back because he wanted to win the WWE title his father, WWE Hall of Fame Dusty Rhodes, never had. Two years later, "The American Nightmare" has achieved "The American Dream."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cody Rhodes wins Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania