Cody Rhodes made his shocking return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 as Seth Rollins’ mystery opponent.
The American Nightmare picked up the win at the biggest show of the year, and went on to defeat Seth at WrestleMania Backlash and one more time at WWE Hell in a Cell.
Rhodes tore his pec while training for the Hell in a Cell match and revealed the gruesome injury at the Premium Live Event. Despite the injury, Cody defeated Seth for the third time in a row. Cody remains out with injury as Rollins gears up for his Fight Pit match against Matt Riddle at WWE Extreme Rules on October 8th.
Seth Rollins On How He Got More Respect Following The Match At HIAC
Speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, Seth noted that his match against Cody Rhodes at WWE Hell in a Cell actually helped restore his reputation with fans a little bit. The Visionary said that he had gotten a lot of grief online after wrestlers had previously gotten injured in matches with him, and Cody coming out of that match without any further injury earned Seth more respect.
“It really went a long way in repairing my reputation,” said Rollins.”I had gotten so much flack online for some injuries that had happened in matches that I was in and whether they were caused by me, directly or indirectly, is a whole different can of worms.
I think people were like ‘oh maybe he does know how to take care of people in the ring’. Yeah, duh. But yeah, I think it was more visually jarring than anything.
Was there a danger for me in being in there with someone who only has one good arm? Absolutely. But again, we’re professionals and we can design these matches to take care of each other in ways that still create captivating stories and moments.
I think that in some ways the match may not have been as special without that visual of his completely torn, bloody, and bruised arm, chest, and belly. Whatever was going on there.”
