Cody Rhodes Signs With WWE - WrestleMania 38 Debut Plans Revealed
Huge if true: Free agent inked deal nearly two weeks ago, to debut at WrestleMania.
For the past month, there have been speculative updates galore about the goings-on involving Cody Rhodes since he and All Elite Wrestling parted ways. The prevailing wisdom is that he would return to WWE, though rumors have swirled about that inevitability as well.
Now, Mike Johnson with PWInsider is reporting that Cody already has signed with WWE according to multiple sources, noting that he made it official "about 10-14 days ago." The current plan for the second-generation star is to have him officially return during WrestleMania 38 weekend. Preliminary word within WWE is that Rhodes would be a part of Monday Night Raw.
All signs have been pointing to Cody rejoining the company he left nearly six years ago since the day he and wife Brandi left AEW. Reporting has zeroed in on Rhodes potentially facing Seth Rollins at Mania, which makes sense considering Rollins is probably the biggest star on the roster not currently involved in a storyline for the big show.
There were some pretty big hints dropped for this match on Raw Monday night, with announcer Corey Graves remarking after Rollins lost a match to gain a spot on the Mania card:
"Seth Rollins' WrestleMania hopes and dreams were dashed tonight!... His vision has turned into a nightmare!"
Those two sentences point to previous Rhodes personae in both WWE and AEW and aren't by accident. Neither can it be that Rollins is left without a dance partner for WrestleMania.
Additionally, Fightful Select reports that travel has been set for Cody for Mania on Sunday, though those plans could change as well. Those close to Rhodes denied the travel info, however.
The question - provided this is signed, sealed and delivered - is whether WWE actually holds off on re-debuting Cody until Mania, or if they try to pop a rating on one of the last two episodes of Raw before the show.