Cody Rhodes spoke with Denise Salcedo this week on the red carpet for the premiere of his documentary, American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes. When asked if his return to WWE has been everything he expected, Rhodes reflected on the massive ovation he received back at WrestleMania 38 when he made his surprise return inside Dallas’ AT&T Stadium. Rhodes’ return immediately led to a rivalry with Seth Rollins, in which Rhodes won three consecutive pay-per-view matches but suffered a torn pectoral in the process. The pair haven’t had much time to interact on WWE TV since then, but Rhodes still views “The Visionary” as his biggest competition over being the “face” of Monday Night Raw each week.
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“The toughest part is, we’re in a generation now, and one of the reasons why this has become one of the most successful and healthy time for pro wrestling or sports entertainment, one of the biggest challenges is you’re flanked by other guys and girls who could be in your spot and maybe are in your spot, and then you get it back,” Rhodes said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). “It’s not a negative thing. Politics are involved in any type of entertainment, but they’re really, I feel like, since removed because we have a bunch of grown men and women who are there now. Charlotte Flair is not NXT Charlotte. Seth Rollins is not The Shield Seth. Kevin Owens is not ROH Kevin Owens. They’ve experienced it. They’ve felt live crowds. They’ve understood booking. They’ve understood turning over money, everything, they’ve understood it, and now we’re all together.
“One of my favorite things, and I think one of the reasons why I have been in the best position I’ve been in my career is because on the same show I compete with a guy, the World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, every week, and it’s not negative,” he continued. “He would like to be the Raw face, and I would like to be the Raw face. I don’t know, some weeks, maybe we trade it off, but that is what makes this good. Competition is what makes this good, and I needed to compete against the very best. Seth, I say he’s top three, one of the very best, Roman (Reigns) being one of the very best. That’s what has been able to bring out the very best in me.”
Seth Rollins Reveals Ongoing Back Injury
On the subject of Rollins, the reigning World Heavyweight Champion confirmed on the Impaulsive podcast this week that he’s dealing with a number of nagging injuries.
“I try to change my training up based on how I feel. There are constant injuries. My knee has been bugging me since before WrestleMania (39). I was having an issue with that. My neck acting up. My lower back has been at me since 2019 [and I] probably should get some surgery on that,” Rollins said. “[I’m] trying to just do whatever I can to make sure I don’t need it because I have a couple of stress fractures back there.”
WWE SummerSlam 2023 Card & Rumored Matches
- World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor
- Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar
- Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso (Yet to Be Confirmed)
- Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus (Yet to Be Confirmed)
- Ricochet vs. Logan Paul (Yet to Be Confirmed)
- Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre (Rumored)
- SmackDown Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair (Rumored)
- Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. TBA (Rumored)
