7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Royal Rumble 2023

4. Cody Rhodes’ Moment

WWE Royal Rumble 2023 Cody Rhodes
WWE

Sure, this was all-but-set in stone the moment WWE announced his comeback ahead of time, but WWE did a neat job of adding some doubt to Cody Rhodes' win by booking GUNTHER so strongly. His 'Iron Man' performance threatened to upset Cody's destiny.

That destiny is one step closer to being fulfilled.

This year's male Rumble was peppered with plenty of mini-stories and drama which kept the pace up. There are always a few natural lulls, and some may hate the lack of more part-timer/retro surprises, but the full-time roster is good enough to carry things and they did.

Winning this kind of match justifies Rhodes' decision to leave AEW and return to WWE last year. He's had injury struggles, but now he's poised to wrestle the best all-rounder in the industry (Roman Reigns) on the biggest wrestling show of the entire calendar year.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood.