Cody Rhodes Discloses Why He Was Not a Surprise Entrant in the Royal Rumble Match

Royal Rumble 2023 saw the return and well-deserved victory of the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes. Ahead of Hell in a Cell, 2022, Cody Rhodes tore his pectoral muscle in the weight room. The WWE Universe was stunned when Rhodes still showed up and wrestled Seth Rollins inside the unforgiving steel structure. However, Rhodes was out of commission for nearly eight months following his match at Hell in a Cell due to his injury. While fans expected Rhodes’ return to be a surprise in the Royal Rumble, WWE announced his in-ring return way ahead of Royal Rumble. 

Rhodes entered the match at number 30 and delivered a stellar performance. During the closing moments, Rhodes was left with entrant number 1, Gunther, who was also the ironman of the Royal Rumble match.

After a see-saw battle, Cody managed to hit the Cross Rhodes and eliminate the Ring General. While his return was well-received, some fans criticized WWE for not keeping Cody a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble match. 

Cody Rhodes explains why he wasn’t a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble match

Speaking on The Bump, Cody Rhodes looked back on his Royal Rumble win. The American Nightmare also revealed that it was his decision to not be a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble match.

According to Rhodes, he had to “roll the dice” many times to get back. Rhodes announcing his return to Royal Rumble was in the same vein as “All In” when he called his shot about what he was going to do. 

“No one will ever know until maybe a book is written one day — and it won’t be written by me — how much I rolled the dice to come back here. This was not a guarantee, gosh, far from it,”

Cody Rhodes also called fans’ reaction to the vignettes of his wrestling journey “affirming”. In the lead-up to the Royal Rumble, WWE aired vignettes of the American Nightmare and announced his in-ring return. At the time, Rhodes was rather dubious about whether the fans cared about his return or not.

“You start to think maybe they don’t miss you. There’s an egotistical element to all of this, especially when we were feeling so good about one another right before I left. It was very reaffirming.”

Paul Heyman takes a personal dig at Cody Rhodes in a scathing promo on Raw

Cody Rhodes came out on Monday Night Raw, only to be interrupted by the Tribal Chief’s adviser, Paul Heyman. During the promo, Paul Heyman almost choked up when Cody thanked him for helping his father Dusty Rhodes financially by signing him up in 2000 in ECW.

However, the atmosphere changed when Paul Heyman made a scathing remark that although Cody was Dusty’s favorite son, Roman Reigns was the son he wished for, also noting that Roman Reigns was trained by The American Dream. Irked by Heyman’s statement, Cody made a promise to make it personal with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.

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