Last week's SmackDown saw Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns form an unlikely alliance to combat The Bloodline. While the Head of the Table is a babyface now, he's still the same Roman we last saw at WrestleMania and he and the American Nightmare have no love for each other.
It's a refreshing approach as, during Vince McMahon's era of creative, Cody and Roman would have likely just become the best of friends with no explanation!
During the show yesterday evening, Reigns and the Undisputed WWE Champion met at Georgia Tech; Reigns went to university and played football there, while Atlanta is Rhodes' home.
Reigns started by saying everything there belonged to him, prompting Rhodes to remind the Tribal Chief of how multiple generations of his bloodline have bled for his state.
Getting down to business, Reigns reminding the man who beat him at WrestleMania that neither he nor the new Bloodline have anything to lose at Bad Blood. Rhodes, in contrast, has everything to lose.
He talked about how he's had everything taken from him, including Jimmy Uso, Paul Heyman, and his ula fala ceremonial necklace. Reigns concluded by saying that, once they've dealt with Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu, he's coming back for his title.
Rhodes countered by making Reigns promise that he'll have his back at Bad Blood and an agreement was reached...however, as Reigns left, he pointed out that his old rival is in his way...of life.
Later in the show, we saw that Kevin Owens may still be harbouring a grudge against Rhodes, suggesting that's another issue which is far from over.