Cody Rhodes Reveals He Wasn't Fully Cleared For In-Ring Return Until WWE Royal Rumble

After suffering a gruesome pectoral injury ahead of Hell in a Cell 2022, we knew it would be a long time until Cody Rhodes would be fit and ready to rock once again. Cut to the 2023 Royal Rumble and ‘The American Nightmare’ made his long awaited return to WWE, winning the iconic 30-man match.

During a conversation with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, Rhodes revealed that he wasn’t fully cleared for an in-ring return until the day of the Rumble itself, despite his appearance being touted for several weeks:

"I went to the Performance Center, I remember I made a joke in AEW about hip toss class, I did a hip toss class. Thank God for it, actually, because 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. Joe Gacy was the other guy, I don't know why I'm not crediting him. They were rough with me, they were rugged. It let me feel what I need to feel to know where to get. I can't wait for their opportunities to come because they are incredible wrestlers and 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 with PT [physical therapy] and an off-site team that my wife got for me.

“I didn't really get fully cleared until today. Looked good, and everything was great, but they still had to get in there, grab it, feel on it. That's a wild situation, when you've been announced for the Royal Rumble, you've seen your shirts and seen the young fans. 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. I'll be in PT for the rest of my life, though. I've been there every week and now I have to just do preventive stuff. It changed everything about how I've trained," Rhodes said.

H/T: Fightful