Roman Reigns identified Cody Rhodes as the star who could take over his spot at the top of WWE, speaking with Shannon Sharpe on the Club Shay Shay podcast. Reigns, the reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion, was asked directly who he believes could eventually assume his position in the company, and he named Rhodes, who ended Reigns’s historic 1,316-day championship reign.
Beyond singling out Rhodes, Reigns also spoke more broadly about WWE’s depth of young talent, telling Sharpe that the promotion has a wealth of fresh faces capable of stepping up in the future. According to Reigns, those younger performers still need to put in the necessary work before they can shoulder that level of responsibility, suggesting his vote of confidence in the next generation comes with the caveat that the path to the top is earned rather than handed over.
The conversation arrived in the same window as another major WWE torch-passing moment, with Brock Lesnar handing off his spot to Oba Femi at SummerSlam following Lesnar’s retirement match. While Reigns did not connect his comments about Rhodes and WWE’s young talent directly to that moment in the reporting of his podcast appearance, the timing underscores a broader industry conversation about succession at the top of WWE’s card as several of its most decorated stars address what comes next for the company’s next generation.
Reigns Reflects on His Biggest Regret
During the same Club Shay Shay appearance, Reigns also opened up about what he considers his biggest WWE career regret. He admitted that earlier in his career, while he was still trying to establish himself as a main-event star, he lacked the confidence to reject certain creative ideas presented to him. Reigns reflected on that period alongside his thoughts on the conclusion of his 1,316-day championship reign, describing specific moments from his career that he wishes he could change.
Reigns did not specify which particular creative ideas he regretted accepting, and the available reporting from the podcast does not detail further specifics beyond his general reflection on his lack of confidence early in his run. Taken together, his comments paint a picture of a champion looking back on a decade-plus of dominance while also beginning to publicly address who might eventually inherit his spot at the top of WWE’s card, with Rhodes named as his most direct answer to that question.
