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WWE Shares Emotional Moment Between Cody Rhodes & CM Punk

By John Canton • Published 31st January 2024
cody rhodes cm punk wwe royal rumble

A video posted by WWE on social media showed an emotional backstage moment between Cody Rhodes and CM Punk.

Going into the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble match, most people expected either Cody Rhodes or CM Punk to win. It was not a shock to see them as the final two men in the match. Cody Rhodes ended up getting the win by countering Punk’s GTS attempt and Cody tossed Punk over the top to the floor.

As for CM Punk, he suffered a torn right triceps during the match. Punk will have surgery soon and have a lengthy rehab process that will put him on the shelf for the next six to eight months.

At the beginning of Raw in Tampa Bay, an emotional CM Punk appeared with a sling on his right arm. Punk talked about how he’s going to be back strong and talked about how the real heroes are saving lives and fighting for lives.

In a video posted to WWE’s social media channels, Cody and Punk were shown backstage during Raw. Punk had tears in his eyes. Punk told Cody: “Finish your story bro.” They hugged again.

Drew McIntyre, who attacked CM Punk on Raw and said that he was glad Punk was injured, posted a savage tweet in response to the video.

Cody Rhodes Credits Michael Cole With “Finish The Story” Line

The phrase “finish your story” or “finish the story” has been heard on WWE television ever since Cody Rhodes returned to WWE in 2022. As Cody said when he returned to the company, he wanted to win the WWE Championship that his father Dusty Rhodes once held after a match, but it was taken away due to a disqualification.

While talking to Busted Open Radio, Cody Rhodes spoke about how it was WWE announcer Michael Cole who pushed the phrase.

“I love that you give me credit for it (‘finish the story’ phrase) because there’s actually a debate. So, I said ‘finish the story’ in a promo before the Royal Rumble and it was on my weight belt last year. But Michael Cole is the first person I think who said it on broadcast. So I feel like it’s Michael. ‘Finish the story’ might be a Michael Cole (thing) because at some point, we’re gonna start looking for who came up with this.”

“I actually talked to Triple H about this a few weeks ago. When I said the game was using ‘finish the story’ as a theme and I see (Hulk) Hogan talking about his story, Undertaker talking about his story, Steve Austin talking about his story. I felt like, oh, I’ve done something. I think the last thing that felt like it spread like wildfire a little bit was ‘Bullet Club is fine’, and that was fun, you know… being able to name FTR and those guys. That was a fun deal but this seems to be on a whole other level.”

As for what’s next, Cody Rhodes has made it clear he is returning to WWE Smackdown on February 2nd perhaps to have a talk with Roman Reigns and set up their potential WrestleMania 40 match.