Cody Rhodes managed to wrestle Seth Rollins inside Hell in a Cell for 25 minutes on Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view despite entering the match with a torn right pec. Rhodes has since shared photos showing the progression of the bruising from the injury (which he suffered while weightlifting recently), starting with a small bruise near his armpit and eventually growing to cover his chest, shoulder, and portions of his arm and ribcage. Rhodes shared one final photo before undergoing surgery in Birmingham on Wednesday, revealing the bruising that reached all the way down his right arm.
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Rhodes confirmed he would undergo surgery during a show-opening promo on Monday Night Raw, but went so far as to tease competing in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match next month (despite the surgery taking roughly six months to recover from). “The American Nightmare” was then attacked from behind by Rollins, who further damaged his injury (in kayfabe) by pressing a sledgehammer into his chest.ย
The former AEW star returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and quickly made it clear that his only goal in returning to the company is finally winning the WWE Championship. He has said as much in various interviews.
“…When I left here, Roman Reigns was on top. And I think Roman Reigns was experiencing some of the negative byproduct of being on top. Some of the pushback that a new face, a new individual [deals with],” Rhodes said while on The Bump earlier this year. “But the thing that makes a champion in any company is consistency. And when he said ‘Dallas, Texas, acknowledge me’ and whether they’re supposed to boo, cheer, whatever it might be, and they acknowledged him. That’s what, you want to know a term that is really overused in what we do, is over.
“…He has truly gotten over via consistency and via hard work. What he has going now with Paul Heyman and [The Usos],” Rhodes added. “I don’t want to use this word because I don’t want to sound like… he’s an intimidating presence. I just look forward to obviously, again, it exists. There’s a match out there that is likely the match that exists out there. But before the matches, you’ve got to cross paths in some capacity and we haven’t yet, and I look forward to that.”