Cody Rhodes had been out of action since June of 2022, but he made his triumphant return at the Royal Rumble last weekend and he won the men’s Royal Rumble match after entering at number 30.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that WWE put Cody Rhodes in the number 30 position because putting anyone else in that spot likely would have led to a bad reaction from fans because it wasn’t Sami Zayn. WWE felt that they could count on Cody Rhodes to quell any negative reaction from the fans.
The idea was that Sami Zayn shouldn’t be in the Royal Rumble unless he was going to win because that only would have made the people who want to see him in the WrestleMania main event spot madder.
It’s been confirmed that Cody Rhodes will be challenging Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39 in April. Zayn isn’t expected to face Reigns at WrestleMania and you can get more on that here.
