After suffering a torn pectoral injury in June, Cody Rhodes' fiery run came to a halt in WWE as he took time off to recover. The American Nightmare took the wrestling world by storm with his grand return at WrestleMania 38 this year after months of speculation.
We saw Cody Rhodes return to a huge pop from the fans as he was revealed to be the mystery opponent to take on Seth Rollins at the Grandest Stage of them All. He would go on to win the match and start a proper feud with The Visionary, with both stars having their last match at Hell in a Cell.
The Grandson of A Plumber put on a once-in-a-lifetime performance despite the injury inside the brutal structure and won the third match in the trilogy as well. Now with his recovery time almost at its end, Xero News has reported that plans have been set for Rhodes to continue his feud against Seth Rollins upon his return.
Rollins vs Rhodes is 100% still the plan for when Rhodes returns from Injury.
— Xero News (@NewsXero) November 24, 2022
Rollins is currently holding onto the United States Championship and is set to defend it against Bobby Lashley and Austin Theory at the Survivor Series WarGames Premium Live Event.
Wrestling Legend isn't optimistic about Cody Rhodes returning at Royal Rumble 2023
While many fans are eagerly anticipating a huge Cody Rhodes return at Royal Rumble, Vince Russo seems to be a bit unconvinced about how the scenario will play out.
There are always rumors abound of someone making a massive return, with many also claiming that The Rock could also return to compete for the shot at the title once Rumble season approaches.
Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's The Wrestling Outlaws, Vince Russo expressed some concern over Cody Rhodes returning at Royal Rumble 2023, seeing how stacked the main event picture is as of right now. Russo went on to give examples of Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, and Braun Strowman, who would go on to have less than stellar main title runs, in his opinion.
"You know, see that's what s*cks. They eat everybody up. Braun, they eat up Lashley, they eat up Drew. This is just a fresh body for them; that's what it is. I mean it's a fresh body they can eat up, that's all its gonna be at the end of the day bro. Honestly," said Russo. [From 3:00 to 3:22]
However, the WCW icon also stated that if Cody Rhodes is fit to compete at the Royal Rumble match, then he would also go on to win it as well.
"Absolutely, it's fresh meat, bro, it's fresh meat. Like seriously, I don't see them going any other way if he's coming back," added Russo. [From 4:32 to 4:41]
If Cody Rhodes and the Rock were the last 2 people in the Royal Rumble, who's getting the biggest cheers? pic.twitter.com/8nP7XaTdWd
— ChanMan (@ChandranTheMan) November 22, 2022