WWE: Doctor Explains How Cody Rhodes Was Able to Wrestle at Hell in a Cell With a Torn Pec

June 6, 2022, 5:15pm

Cody Rhodes’ torn pec became the biggest story of Hell in a Cell as soon as word got out that “The American Nightmare” was dealing with an injury. WWE reported prior to the start of the show that Rhodes initially hurt it during his brawl with Seth Rollins on last week’s Raw, then suffered a full tear while weightlifting this week. Rhodes’ rec pec and the underside of his right arm were dark purple as a result of the injury, but he somehow managed to power through and deliver a 25-minute match with Rollins in the show’s main event.

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Rhodes said after the match that he insisted on wrestling, but how was he physically able to given that the tendon was torn right off the bone? YouTuber Dr. Brian Sutterer, MD, explained in a new video on Sunday night.

Sutterer explained that based on the way Cody’s pec looked (the bruising, coloring and the fact that his right nipple was now lower than his left), all signs pointed to the injury to his pectoralis major being 100% real. He noted that when the pec tendon is torn like that, it alone can’t get any worse and that given how recent the injury took place, he probably wasn’t too limited in his range of motion outside of excruciating pain. While wrestling in the match did leave him susceptible to injuries to the shoulder or rotator cuff because his body was going to compensate for the ruptured tendon, it was just a matter of how much pain he could tolerate before going in to have it surgically repaired (which Rhodes reportedly has scheduled for Thursday).

Finally, Sutterer said that while he wouldn’t have advised Rhodes to wrestle, this was not a matter of another doctor being negligent. He, like many on social media over the past day, then commended Rhodes on his unbelievable toughness to wrestle the match. Check out the full results from Hell in a Cell below!