Report: WWE’s Plans for a Cody Rhodes Feud Upon His Return From Injury

WWE fans are patiently waiting for Cody Rhodes’ return to the ring. “The American Nightmare” has been out of action ever since he tore his pec while training for a match at Hell in a Cell against Seth Rollins, and even though he managed to gut his way through the bout he was quickly written off TV afterward via a sneak attack from “The Visionary.” Quite a bit has changed about the WWE during Rhodes’ absence, most notably regarding its leadership and head booker, but the company has also seen Rollins pivot from one of Monday Night Raw’s biggest heels to its top babyface. 

Rollins casually mentioned Rhodes for the first time in months during a recent promo, leading to speculation that WWE will pick up their rivalry once Rhodes gets back. Per Dave Meltzer on a recent Wrestling Observer Radio, the plan is for that program to get picked back up and there will be “more talk” about the two soon. 

It’s unclear if this means Rollins will revert back into a heel for a brief program with Rhodes or if the two will work things out without needing a fourth pay-per-view match in early 2023. Upon his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38, Rhodes feuded almost exclusively with Rollins and beat him at three consecutive pay-per-views. There have been multiple reports of Rhodes challenging Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 38, so he’d likely have to move on from feuding with Rollins fairly quickly.

“It was pretty gnarly,” Rollins said in an interview with Digital Spy while reflecting on his third match with Rhodes (which wound up getting Match of the Year buzz). “I don’t think I expected it to look like that. I’ve had some torn muscles in my day and I know that the blood seeps down, gravity just takes over but I had never seen anything like that. I remember Triple H had torn his pec some time ago at an event and shared a picture of it and it was pretty brutal but nothing like what we saw from Cody at Hell in a Cell. His bicep, tricep, shoulder, pec it was down to his belly button almost, it was pretty gnarly.

“It was definitely shocking and I think the way I felt about it was how the audience in Chicago felt,” he added. “They were just very uncomfortable for the first little bit. I think people were even wary just to cheer for him because it was so wild.”

Rollins continued, “It’s one of those things where, I’ve never encountered anything like it, so the preparation is entirely brand-new. It was a full hurdle thrown my way that I’d never seen before and so trying to wrap ourselves around it was an interesting process. I think what we got out of it was magic, how we got there wasn’t ideal but that’s life, you gotta roll with the punches sometimes.”