8 Live Observations From WWE Post-WrestleMania Monday Night Raw

3. Cody Returns To Raw

Seth Rollins Cody Rhodes
WWE

With the dust barely settled on Cody's shocking and remarkably well-executed WrestleMania return, those in attendance at the American Airlines Center were hotter for the Raw redebut than just about anything else on the show.

They were rewarded for their energy.

Cody’s promo was as powerful as it was perfectly pitched to tell an actual story in the company that can’t do it anymore. Invoking Dusty Rhodes’ name wasn’t exactly a coupon buster, but mention his thirst for the WWE Championship back in the 1970s served as a perfect link to the reason he’s returned to the company.

Every bit for those that know of his past as those that were brand new to him on Sunday, Cody ducked and dived through the exposition with the deftest of touches, name dropping all the right people without ever giving the entire game away. Roman Reigns hung heavy in the tiddy of all of this, but it was his former Shield partner Seth Rollins who arrived with nothing more than a handshake.

If such a thing as the home run Cody return promo exists, this was definitely it.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett