13 Ups & 9 Downs For WWE In 2022
11. Cody Rhodes Returns
This whole thing would bring a tear to Cody's eye upon reflecting on his year, but then a lot of things do, so perhaps that's not the best gauge.
What is, however, is the reaction 'The American Nightmare' received at WrestleMania, the Raw two nights later, just about every house show appearance shared on Twitter and especially in the gutsy and dramatic Hell In A Cell bruised t*tty classic.
Cody Rhodes has already had a vintage second WWE run and he only got three months in before suffering an injury. His comeback was an earthquake within the industry - wrestlers choosing to leave former utopian landscape AEW for the opposition still is, let alone EVPs and company founders considering the jump - but WWE uncharacteristically capitalised on it by bringing him in exactly as he was just weeks earlier on TNT and TBS. This felt like a wholesale show switch indicative of the new wrestling landscape Vince McMahon was desperately eager to suppress.
The chaos of 2022 in general underwrote the historic significance of his return, but his legacy was assured forever in the moment, and the general vibe around the soon-to-be-returning star is that within his new home he's only just getting started.