Cody Rhodes officially returned to WWE during Night One of WrestleMania 38 On Saturday night, he appeared as Vince McMahon’s handpicked rival to Seth Rollins. Rhodes was famous for asking for his release from WWE back in 2016 while toiling at the middle card as the infamous Stardust character, but he quickly found success in promotions such as Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. In 2019, he was one of the founding members of All Elite Wrestling, which has since become the second largest pro wrestling promotion in the country.
News that Rhodes was working for AEW without a contract, despite being the TNT Champion and one of the four CEOs, in mid-January confirmed that report weeks later after dropping the TNT title to Sami Guevara in a ladder match. He said at the time, “There are a lot of elephants in the room. This is a crazy week in wrestling. People think Shawn Ross is [Sapp] Bachelor story – is not. I work here without a contract. I’m not even on the payroll anymore. I work here on a handshake deal. This is 100% legit, I swear on the life of Pharaoh [his dog] If you want to know how serious things are.”
It’s Code Rhodes!!!!!!!!Tweet embed arrived to #WrestleMania! pic.twitter.com/bKDBPLCKKr
– WWE (WWE) 3 April 2022
Subsequently, AEW confirmed on February 15 that both Cody and Brandi Rhodes will be officially leaving AEW. Rhodes said goodbye to both the fans and the locker room, writing in a statement, “I have so many beautiful milestones and memories of this renaissance…through sweat, blood, tears, real fire and all of that…I left all well. Everything pales in comparison. With the ultimate contribution you have been mandated to lead in the company, the community outreach team.In your most internal moments, your outward behavior and your ability to gain fame/influence and do something of value to the communities you visit (whether the cameras are on or off) is the highest accolade. Amanda Hopper will lead the department with style. I’m so proud of my creativity, my contributions, and the elements I’ve supported or collaborated with such amazing professionals. Thank you fans. You’ve done the work! Let’s live forever.”
Rumors that Rhodes was on his way back to WWE soon started circulating and the exact mentions were scrapped by commenting on Raw episodes. But it wasn’t until mid-March when internal reports were finally able to claim that Rhodes had put his pen to paper. Meanwhile, Rollins repeatedly failed to secure a spot at WrestleMania, failing to beat both Kevin Owens and AJ Styles on Raw episodes. Then Vince McMahon offered him a match but said Rollins wouldn’t know who he was until he was in the ring.
🚨🚨🚨Tweet embed He is back and facing Tweet embed at #WrestleMania! pic.twitter.com/ST3B1EmfCx
– WWE (WWE) 3 April 2022
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