Cody Rhodes’ return to WWE appears like it will have to wait until WrestleMania.
Rhodes, the former All Elite Wrestling executive vice president, has been anticipated to arrive back in WWE since he stunned the professional wrestling world by not agreeing to a new contract with AEW in February. The 36-year-old Rhodes, according to PW Insider, signed his deal with Vince McMahon’s company around three weeks ago.
Since then WWE has put Seth Rollins in a storyline search for a role at the two-night WrestleMania 38 at AT&T Stadium on April 2-3. He tried to go as a tag team with Kevin Owens and then attempted to win matches to steal Owens’ and A.J. Styles’ respective spots away from them. That quest culminated with video of a meeting with McMahon posted on WWE’s social media accounts Monday ahead of “Monday Night Raw.”
During the video, McMahon confirms that Rollins will have a match at WrestleMania this weekend. His opponent will be someone of McMahon’s choosing and Rollins will find out who it is when he’s “in the ring” and his foe is “introduced.” If it is Rhodes like many believe, it will give WWE that chance for the biggest pop possible for “The American Nightmare” and creates even further anticipation for the moment — similar to the Hardy Boyz’s return at WrestleMania 33.
Rollins and Rhodes have never had a televised singles match and their last time in the ring together came in a 2014 tag match on “Monday Night Raw” that pitted Rollins and Roman Reigns against Cody and his brother Dustin as Goldust. The last time we saw Rhodes in WWE was in May of 2016 as the character Stardust prior to him asking for his release from the company.
The son of the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes made the most of his fresh start, using his time in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling to go from a trusted mid-card talent to a bona fide main eventer. His assentation as a member of the famed Bullet Club and successfully promoting the wrestler-run pay-per-view “All In” in 2018 opened the door for him to play a major role in founding AEW in 2019 along with fellow EVPs Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. He became AEW’s first and only three-time TNT champion and forfeited his right to challenge for the AEW world title a second time after losing to Chris Jericho at Full Gear in 2019.
During his time in AEW he wasn’t shy about taking shots at WWE, even breaking a Triple H-like throne with a sledgehammer prior to his match at the company’s inaugural show. Rhodes, one of the leaders of the “revolution” in the pro wrestling landscape, was working on a handshake deal with AEW for most of 2022 after his original contract had run out. Issues with compensation and booking power that is now in the hands of AEW president Tony Khan reportedly led to him not returning to the company.
Rhodes would return to WWE a much bigger star with a much bigger paycheck than when he left. He’d have a chance to rewrite his legacy there and try to earn the world championship and household-name fame that eluded him the first time around. A WrestleMania-worthy return moment and a win over Rollins could certainly be a jumping off point toward that.