Chapter 4: This means WAR Games

Finally, it's main event time, The People's Chosen Cody Rhodes against The Corporate Champion Seth Rollins, one last time. The American Nightmare comes out on fire, immediately going on his opponent as soon as the bell rings. He knows this is his last chance at the Undisputed Championship, his last chance to finish the story, and wants to finish this as quickly as possible, not giving Rollins even a small chance to breath off his offense.

However, he still has to deal with the interfering members of The New Corporation, who all come out at different points in the match and try to distract him. He knocks down both Theory and Waller off the apron when they appear, then nails a dive to the outside onto Jimmy Uso and comes back into the ring, only to be immediately received with a Pedigree by Rollins. The champion goes for the cover, 1… 2…

But Cody kicks out at the last possible moment!

Rollins can't believe it, he goes to the corner and signals for a Curb Stomp, wanting to finish this once and for all. However, Cody isn't gonna allow that and again at the last moment, he sidesteps Rollins and hits him with a Cross Rhodes, then another one and a third one for good measure. We've seen this before, Cody has the match won only for someone to interrupt, but he goes for the cover anyways, 1… 2…

…

…3!

He's done it! Cody finishes the story! This time no one was there to cost him the match and the fans quickly erupt into cheers as The American Nightmare celebrates in nearly disbelief. However, this celebration is suddenly cut short when…

WHAM!

"Oh my! The Rock! It's The Rock! He's hit Cody with the Money in the Bank briefcase from behind!" Cole exclaims.

"And that's not it, seems like The Final Boss is thinking about cashing in his newly won contract!" McAfee declares.

"No! Please no, not now! Anytime but now! Cody's just been handed the belt for God's sake!" Cole shouts.

Indeed, The Rock has nailed down Cody and tells the referee he's gonna cash in his new briefcase. The announcer makes this official, much to the detriment of the crowd, who are booing all throughout as the bell rings and the match is declared. Rock picks up a tired Cody and easily hits him with a Rock Bottom, all while still having his suit pants on, then goes for the cover, 1… 2…

…

…No! Cody refuses to go down this easily, just when he's so close to finish his story!

The crowd cheers as The Rock looks on in disbelief, then starts trash talking Cody, only for the young Rhodes to retort with a slap to the face! Payback for the press conference in Las Vegas!

But despite this show of defiance, Cody is still too tired to fight back and Rock hits another Rock Bottom, then puts him in position for the most electrifying move in sports entertainment, The CORPORATE Elbow. He goes once again for the cover in the middle of the ring, 1… 2…

…

…

…3.

And much to everyone's dismay and annoyance, The Rock is your NEW WWE Undisputed Universal Champion. Cody came so close he even held the title, only to be screwed out of it at the last moment, just like his father was all those years ago. The show ends with the crowd booing as The Rock raises his newly won title, with Cody still laid out in the middle of the ring.

It's Monday Night RAW and the new Undisputed Champion The Rock opens the show to an incessant chorus of boos from the angry crowd, who repeatedly chant things like "Rocky Sucks!" "Die, Rocky, Die!", "Bullsh*t!" and all sort of profanities at him. This goes on for minutes, until The Rock finally speaks up.

"FINALLY!" he makes a dramatic pause, to even more boos. "The house is in order, because The Rock has done the right thing once again… by bringing back the Undisputed Championship to The Corporation! You're welcome by the way" he declares.

"But don't get it twist, this isn't the beginning of a new era! This is just a continuation of the process. Now, The Rock's the gatekeeper to maintain the Undisputed title safe within The Corporation. We're not going to return this business to its glory days overnight, but The Corporation has all the power and tools to take this company to the promise land! And it's gonna be way easier now that we don't have any obstacles that interfere with our plan-" The Rock's cut off by a sudden shout on a microphone.

"SHUT THE HELL UP, ROCK!" The crowd cheers as a furious Cody Rhodes appears on stage with a mic in hand and a determined look on his face. "You think this is over between us, you son of a bitch?"

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Language, young man. We're a PG company after all, and that's no way to talk to your boss. I already been kind enough with you, don't make The Rock have to suspend you or more…" Rock threatens.

"Or more? You wanna suspend me? Well, then you're going to like this. I said it once and I'll say it again, this isn't over. Not until I take down The Corporation, piece by piece, and finally take that title off you and all the power you have alongside it!" Cody frantically declares.

"Aha! There's that fire! It's not box-office fire, but that's the Dusty fire! That's the second place fire. Alright! Let's talk business, boy." Rocky taunts.

"I'm here to throw one final challenge at you, if you're man enough to accept. I wanna put an end to all this, in the same match that my father created. SummerSlam, four on four, my team against The Corporation… in WAR GAMES!" Cody exclaims in his best William Regal impersonation. "How's that for box-office, Dwayne?" he questions.

"You know what? The Rock likes it, but Cody, you know how this works. You have to put something on the line first, something that we may want, something that draws some ratings!" Rock demands.

"Okay, I knew you were gonna say that, so how about this? If we win, I get one last shot at the Undisputed Championship whenever I want. If you win however… you can fire me" Rhodes offers.

Rock seems content with this and smiles as he says, "Now, that's box-office! I knew Dusty taught you well on what's best for business after all! But just one more thing, when The Corporation beats you, again, The Rock's not gonna fire you. Oh, no, The Rock's gonna FIRE ALL MEMBERS OF YOUR TEAM! Good luck finding three people that wanna risk their jobs for your little story" he announces.

However, Cody seems undeterred by this and smiles as well. "Don't worry, I already have a few interested. Guess we'll see each other at SummerSlam."

"Oh, no, no, no, no! The Rock's not gonna face you at SummerSlam. In fact, The Rock's not even gonna compete at SummerSlam!" Rock reveals, to another chorus of boos. "You can cry all you want, you people don't deserve to watch The Rock perform! And you Cody, you don't even belong in the same league as The Final Boss. Need I remind you that the last time we faced, The Rock kicked your candy ass and pinned you in the middle of this ring!"

Cody shakes his head. "Oh, you're not gonna compete then? That's a shame, Rock. I had a receipt just for you after that cheap shot you gave me with your Money in the Bank briefcase, and I know a few of my partners have receipts of their own for you as well. But, it seems I'll first have to go through your corporate goons to get to you, but as for my partners… well, there's one right behind you now!" he points out and, as The Rock turns around…

WHAM!

"Jey Uso with a Superkick to The Rock!" Cole exclaims with surprise.

Indeed, the younger Uso twin, whom Cody gave a second chance and who's been with him since day one, has officially joined Cody's team for War Games. Jey stands tall above The Rock, pointing at Cody on the entrance ramp to tell him he's got his back.

However, that little stunt Cody and Jey pulled over The Rock is gonna come at a cost. On SmackDown, when Cody is set to take on Grayson Waller, accompanied as usual by his partner in crime, Austin Theory, Director of Operations Ava comes out and says, "Cody, I forgot to tell you something again. By orders of my father, this isn't a singles match anymore. It's a three on one handicap!"

As soon as she announces this, Cody turns around and gets hit with a Superkick of his own by Jimmy Uso, a little bit of payback from Monday. With three of the men he'll compete against at War Games, it's clearly an inside on how this is gonna go as Cody gets beaten down, all while the crowd chant "Rocky Sucks!" the entire time.

However, in their vain attempt to get back at Cody, The New Corporation forgot one thing and that was to declare this match was under Corporate Rules, meaning that no one will get fired if they interfere despite not being sided with them. And that's exactly what happens as, when all seems lost, Jey Uso comes from behind the crowd and pulls his brother Jimmy down the apron to brawl with him.

The two fight all over and up the ramp, but just when it seems Jimmy has the upper hand, he gets a little surprise from another brother he betrayed in the form of Solo Sikoa, who nails him with a Samoan Spike! Solo has joined his brother Jey and, surprisingly given their past story, Cody's team.

Speaking of which, with one less opponent to worry about, Cody is able to take Austin Theory out of the ring just as Waller comes rolling in and once again catches him with a Cross Rhodes to get an all-important momentum victory heading into SummerSlam. But that brings out a very cocky and arrogant Rock, who takes chance to rub salt in the wound with a Rock Bottom on an already tired and worn down Cody. He lays out more cheap shots into him, proving this whole match was just a charade to soften up Cody so The Final Boss could get his hands on him.

As Cody lays on the floor, beaten and battered, Rock takes one final chance to taunt him. "F** your story."

And on the way to The Biggest Party of the Summer, we get many more face off and interactions between members of both teams, as now that Solo has joined Cody's side, he and Jey brawl with their elder brother Jimmy backstage on RAW, then team up to best the team of corporate stooges Waller and Theory on SmackDown.

Seth "Freaking" Rollins declares that he will lead The New Corporation to victory in War Games as their captain in order to redeem himself for having been beaten by Cody once again, while The American Nightmare is yet to reveal who his final team member actually is. Speculation runs wild on the subject and at the final RAW before the event, we get the match to determinate which team will get the War Games advantage, with every other participant banned from interfering in the bout. And it's a WrestleMania rematch as The Uso brothers face each other one more time, Jimmy vs Jey!

The match is a repeat from their first showdown, only that this time the younger brother seems more aggressive on the attack as he knows what's on the line. They trade blows and momentum throughout the match, the siblings knowing each other in and out, neither one getting a decisive advantage over the other.

But in the final moments, it's Jey who goes for a suicide dive as his elder brother rolled to the outside, only to be caught midair with a Superkick from Jimmy, who pulls his brother back into the ring and hits him with a final Uso Splash to get the huge victory, revenge for their last encounter and also the advantage for his team at SummerSlam. Jimmy stands tall in the middle of the ring while he celebrates, feeling on top of the world as it looks like it may be game over for Cody and his team come War Games…

I couldn't find a way to stretch this all the way to Survivor Series, so I had to bring War Games early and SummerSlam was the perfect place for it. So, who do you think Cody's final team member is going to be? Let me know and until next time!