News On WWE Not Planning To Put WWE/Universal Title On Cody Rhodes Before Injury
Cody Rhodes was having a strong 2022 before a significant injury slowed him down in June, but a new report suggests WWE wasn’t going to make Cody a World Champion this year.
When the AEW contract of Cody Rhodes expired, there were a lot of reports that he was headed back to WWE. It was one of those things that fans didn’t know for sure until they saw it with their own eyes. At WrestleMania 38 in April, Cody made his WWE return as the mystery opponent against Seth “Freakin” Rollins. Cody received a thunderous ovation for his return to the company he worked from 2006 to 2016.
The rivalry between Rhodes and Rollins saw them have a trilogy of matches WWE Premium Live Events. Rhodes beat Rollins at WrestleMania 38, which led to the rematch at WrestleMania Backlash which was won by Rhodes as well. Their third match took place at June’s Hell in a Cell with Cody going into the HIAC match with a torn pectoral muscle. Cody gutted it out and beat Rollins for the third time. On the following Raw, Rollins attacked Cody, who was out of action indefinitely (most likely for the rest of 2022) due to surgery on the torn pec.
Considering how strongly WWE was booking Cody, there were a lot of rumors that perhaps he would win Money in the Bank in July or perhaps face Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at SummerSlam or Clash at the Castle. Due to Cody’s injury, it was Brock Lesnar facing Reigns yet again at SummerSlam and Drew McIntyre got his shot at Clash. Reigns beat both of them thanks to some help, but Reigns remains the double champion.
A new report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select noted that numerous sources in WWE said when “Cody Rhodes sustained his injury, Vince McMahon had not solidified plans to make Cody Rhodes the WWE or Universal Champion.”
The report went on to say that former WWE Chairman (and Head of Creative) Vince McMahon was “all on board” with the idea of Roman Reigns having a run as the double champion. There were apparently no ideas that Vince wanted to move away from those plans.
There was a significant change in WWE’s creative process since McMahon retired on July 22nd and Triple H took over the Head of Creative with the job title of Chief Content Officer. Reigns has remained the double champion following SummerSlam and Clash at the Castle with his next title defense coming against Logan Paul at Crown Jewel on November 5th.
As for when Cody might return, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was a popular pick to win the Royal Rumble in January 2023. Cody recently called his 2022 run in WWE “the best three months of his life” while adding that he’s training hard to return.