Report: WWE Wanted Cody Rhodes To Debut In Jacksonville

While Cody Rhodes looked set to return to WWE upon his AEW departure in mid-February, The American Nightmare has still yet to resurface on WWE TV and him re-signing with the company is now said to be uncertain.

Recent reports have noted pitches were made for Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins at WrestleMania but those plans have since been scrapped due to Cody's uncertain status. 

Further details on what WWE had planned for Rhodes have since emerged, though, and Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that the company wanted him to debut on the March 14 edition of Monday Night Raw in Jacksonville, Florida.

"Obviously WWE wants him for WrestleMania. Time is running out...There's Raw on Monday in Jacksonville. If he's going to be at WrestleMania it would make sense to me that he would debut in Jacksonville if they have a deal, which we don't know. If he's not there I would presume the deal is not close because that was the day that they wanted him for from what I understand...He had stuff set up for WrestleMania and it was off the boards a couple of days ago. Talks were still going and I guess we'll find out," Meltzer said.

Why WWE wanted to debut Cody in Jacksonville hasn't been confirmed but the city does have a close connection to All Elite Wrestling and Tony Khan. Not only is Jacksonville very much AEW's home base, Khan is a co-owner of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.