Cody Rhodes Wins Men's 2023 WWE Royal Rumble

The American Nightmare is on the Road to WrestleMania.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Royal Rumble 2023 Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

As many had predicted, Cody Rhodes emerged victorious in the 2023 men's Royal Rumble match.

Making his return to action after suffering a pectoral tear prior to the Hell in a Cell event last July, the American Nightmare entered the men's Rumble bout at #30 and last eliminated Gunther to secure the victory. Including the Ring General, Rhodes clocked up five eliminations, also tossing out Dominik Mysterio, Austin Theory, Logan Paul and playing a major part in eliminating Brawn Strowman.

Of course, this Rumble win puts Cody on course for a main event bout at WrestleMania 39 this April. As it stands, Rhodes is on a collision course with Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Showcase of the Immortals; that being due to how the Tribal Chief bested Kevin Owens in the Royal Rumble main event.

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As ever, things could change before 'Mania, with some speculating that WWE may opt to split the WWE Title and Universal Title before the Grandaddy of Them All. Then there's also the developing situation amongst the Bloodline, with Sami Zayn getting a beatdown from Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa after the Tribal Chief's win over Owens. With KO handcuffed and assaulted by the Bloodline - bar Sami - after this match, Zayn tried to put a stop to this attack on his long-time rival-turned-BFF-turned-rival. After Reigns had encouraged the Honorary Uce to hit Owens with a steel chair, Sami instead opted to hit Roman with that weapon - in turn triggering his own assault from Roman, Jimmy and Solo... while Jey Uso wanted no part in all of this.

Regardless of the situation with the Bloodline, Cody Rhodes is now on the famed Road to WrestleMania.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.