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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Liam Llewellyn

Inside Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes’ esteemed families ahead of huge WrestleMania clash

After a pulsating first night of WrestleMania action, the WWE Universe prepares for the hotly anticipated main event between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes on night two of the ultimate wrestling extravaganza.

The ‘Tribal Chief’ will defend his Undisputed Universal Championship against ‘American nightmare’, who bids to end the ‘Head of the Table’s' near three-year title reign.

Ahead of Sunday night's epic matchup, Mirror Sport will take a look at the potted history of two of WWE’s most notorious dynasties.

The Anoa'i Family

When it comes to the world of professional wrestling, the Anoa'i family need no introduction. The original family legacy lives on, most notably in an all-time great such as The Rock, one of the best tag teams in history in The Uso’s, rising star Solo Sikoa and of course, Reigns himself.

Between the 1950s and 1960s, the Anoa’i and Maivia families became blood brothers. Reverend Amituana'i Anoa'i was the patriarch of the Anoa'i family, a Samoan high chief and founder of the Wild Samoans tag team, one of the greatest of all time.

Afa Anoa'i and Sika Anoa'i of the Wild Samoans, sons of Reverend Amituana'i Anoa'i are one of the most successful tag teams in WWE history (Pro Wrestling Illustrated)

His union with High Chief Peter Maivia led to the two families joining together in the Bloodline. Peter Maiva is the grandfather of The Rock, while Reverend Amituana'i Anoa'i is the grandfather of Reigns and Sikoa.

Speaking of the Bloodlines’s ‘enforcer’, Sikoa and his brothers The Usos are the sons of WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi and the nephews of the late Umaga, a former two-time Intercontinental champion.

The Rhodes family

While the Rhodes family dynasty may be smaller in size, they are no less iconic in their output of legendary Superstars. Back in 1990, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes took the universe by storm for the first time.

Billed as ‘the son of a plumber’, Dusty represented the working American Man, and soon shot to fame, most notably for his legendary feud with Ric Flair.

The Rhodes family have had a significant impact on wrestling over the last several decades (WWE)

Dusty’s sons, Dustin Rhodes, primarily known in WWE as Goldust, and Cody, both went on to carve out iconic wrestling careers of their own.

Cody, who debuted in WWE back in 2007, has transformed from a midcard talent never worthy of a top spot to now being a headline superstar and the next big threat to Reigns’ astounding title run.

Which family will emerge victorious at WrestleMania?

Now here’s where it gets a little intense. Dusty Rhodes trained Reigns, during his time in NXT and had a long-standing affinity for the 38-year-old.

Rhodes made a triumphant return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 last year and following a nasty pectoral injury in June, he reappeared in Royal Rumble two months ago and won the prestigious match to earn a shot at taking Reigns’ titles at California's SoFi Stadium.

Rhodes will attempt to end Reign's historic near three-year championship reign at WrestleMania (WWE)

Since then, Reigns has attempted to play mind games with his opponent and spoken publicly about his relationship with 'The American Dream', and even taunted Cody about his Dad on Smackdown last month.

As Reigns will bid to stay at thr top of the WWE mountain, Rhodes on the other hand, endeavours to ‘finish his story’ and become the first member of his family to win WWE’s top prize.

The pair’s headline match at WrestleMania 39 will see two Dynasties come together to make history, and decide once and for all, which family reigns supreme.

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