Cody Rhodes officially returned to the WWE during Night One of WrestleMania 38 on Saturday night, appearing as Vince McMahon’s handpicked opponent for Seth Rollins. Rhodes famously requested his release from the WWE back in 2016 while toiling in the midcard as the infamous Stardust persona, but quickly found success in promotions like Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. In 2019 he was one of the founding members of All Elite Wrestling, which has since become the second-biggest pro wrestling promotion in the country.
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News that Rhodes was operating in AEW without a contract, despite being the TNT Champion and one of the four executive vice presidents, back in mid-January and he confirmed that report weeks later after dropping the TNT title to Sammy Guevara in a Ladder Match. He said at the time, “There’s so many elephants in the room. This is an insane week in wrestling. People think that the Sean Ross [Sapp] story is bs — it’s not. I am working here without a contract. I’m not even on payroll anymore. I’m working here on a handshake deal. That is 100% legitimate, I swear on Pharaoh’s life [his dog] if you want to know how serious things got.”
AEW then confirmed on Feb. 15 that both Cody and Brandi Rhodes were officially leaving AEW. Rhodes said farewell to both the fans and the locker room, writing in a statement, “I have so many milestones and beautiful memories of this renaissance…through sweat, blood, tears, literal fire, and all that…I left it all on the mat. Everything pales in comparison to the final contribution I was empowered to lead at the company, the community outreach team. In the most inward moments, your outward behavior and your ability to take fame/influence and do something of value for the communities you visit (whether the cameras are on or off) is the highest honor. I am confident Amanda Huber will lead the department with style. I’m so proud of my creations and contributions and the items I supported or collaborated on with such wonderful professionals. Thank you, fans. Y’all did the work! Let’s live forever.”
Rumors that Rhodes was on his way back to WWE quickly began to spread and subtle references were dropped by commentary on episodes of Raw. But it wasn’t until mid-March that insider reports could finally claim Rhodes had put pen to paper. Meanwhile, Rollins had repeatedly come up short in earning a spot at WrestleMania, failing to beat both Kevin Owens and AJ Styles on episodes of Raw. Vince McMahon then finally offered him a match but said Rollins wouldn’t learn who it was until he was in the ring.
