Cody Rhodes made his big return to WWE at Royal Rumble. After staying away from wrestling for 7 months, the American Nightmare picked things up right where he left off. He won the battle royal to earn a shot at the Undisputed World Championship at WrestleMania 39. His return, however, wasn’t free of criticism. Many fans thought that it would have been better to keep his comeback a surprise.
The former AEW star addressed this criticism during an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. Rhodes explained why he preferred the way things went down, saying that he wanted to call his shots:
“The Rumble was about, in my opinion, as a character that people like on the show, and I’ve been a character on shows that they don’t like but as someone currently, they like and vibe with and I really love and like them. I wanted to call my shot.
Calling your shots sometimes makes it obvious. Like ‘oh, hey, they’re making it seem like he’s gonna win the Royal Rumble.’ I wanted to call my shot because I still believe in those type of wrestlers. The type I grew up with, who said something and did it. That doesn’t happen that often in wrestling.”
‘It Just Felt Good’: Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes noted how he has been talking about winning the world championship since he returned to the company. He mentioned that many fans wanted his return to be a surprise, but the wrestling veteran explained that he felt good sharing the story of his return with fans:
“I’ve been telling you since WrestleMania, this is what I want. I want to win this championship that my dad never got his hands on. Then I want to start a whole new chapter. I’m wrapping up something that started in 1978, seven years before I was born. 77 maybe actually, but I want to wrap this up, and then wrap that part up for me. Then start a whole new chapter. I kind of stand by that.
There was a lot of people like ‘maybe it should have been a surprise.’ [I’m like] ‘Yeah, that might have been really cool.’ But it just felt good about telling them ‘Hey, I’m coming back’ It was really nerve-wracking and anxious. Watching those vignettes, because they’re not vignettes. It’s real surgery footage and real PT footage at my gym. I didn’t want to let anyone down and I felt like I didn’t.”
You can watch Cody Rhodes’ full interview below:
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