Cody Rhodes returned at WWE Royal Rumble, and “The American Nightmare” says his clearance came down to the wire.
WWE previously announced that Rhodes would return for the Men’s Royal Rumble Match on January 28. He had been sidelined since June with a torn pectoral muscle, and he hadn’t wrestled since he faced Seth Rollins in a Hell in a Cell Match at WWE Hell in a Cell.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, Rhodes discussed his return and detailed how he trained with NXT stars Carmelo Hayes and Joe Gacy. He also stated that he didn’t get fully cleared until the day of WWE Royal Rumble.
“I went to the Performance Center. I remember I made a joke when I was at AEW about hip toss class. I did a hip toss class. Thank gosh for it, actually,” Rhodes said. “I worked with, I won’t say one guy’s name because I don’t want to blow his spot up, but I worked with Carmelo Hayes, and Joe Gacy was the other guy. They were rough with me, they were rugged, but it let me feel what I need to feel to know where to get. I can’t wait until their opportunities come because they’re incredible wrestlers, incredible stars.
“That experience, I got partially cleared through that. I was able to do what I want, my wind was good. I was training, heavily training with PT and off-site with a good team that my wife had got for me. But I didn’t really get fully cleared until today. Looked good, everything was great, but they still had to get in there and grab it and feel on it, and that’s a wild situation. When you’ve been announced for the Royal Rumble, and you’re seeing your shirts and you’re seeing the young fans and stuff, but I think it was more of a formality than anything. But it still had me kind of shaking. WWE has been very good to me medically, very good, and I’ll be in PT for the rest of my life. I’ve been there every week and now I just gotta do preventative stuff. So it changed everything about how I’ve trained.”
Rhodes was the thirtieth entrant in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match, and he last eliminated Gunther to win the bout.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit the original source and link back to WrestleZone with an H/T for the transcription.
RELATED: Gunther Sets Royal Rumble Record, Rhea Ripley Says She Temporarily Dislocated Knee
