Dave Meltzer Confirms Cody Rhodes Vs. Seth Rollins For WWE WrestleMania 38

The American Nightmare and the Visionary to lock horns at the Showcase of the Immortals.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE WrestleMania 38 Cody Rhodes Seth Rollins
WWE.com/AEW.com

While some fans were expecting to see Cody Rhodes make his big WWE return on last night's episode of Raw - which emanated from Jacksonville, Florida's VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena - that ultimately wasn't the case. According to Dave Meltzer, though, the plan right now is very much for the American Nightmare to be back with WWE and in action at WrestleMania 38 next month.

Speaking on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer stated how "everyone" in WWE is under the impression that not just will Cody be signing with WWE, but that he'll be tangling with Seth Rollins at this year's Showcase of the Immortals.

"Yeah, he's coming. I mean, that's it. He's coming, he's wrestling Seth at WrestleMania unless something changes, and I don't expect... I sure watched this [Raw] not thinking anything's changing."

Speculating on how Rhodes' return may come about, Dave threw out the idea of the former AEW EVP making a 'surprise' appearance similar to the return of the Hardy Boyz at WrestleMania 33.

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"How they do it, I think they may end up doing the Hardys thing, where you know they're coming but they don't announce it, and they get the big pop, they show up the day of the show. They may be doing that one. But they've played up so big, Seth Rollins and WrestleMania. Again, he didn't do an angle with anybody else, there's nobody left. It's not like they downplayed him because he's not on the card, which is what you do in this scenario if someone's not one the card. You downplay them because you've got so many people that you've got to get over for WrestleMania, so yeah, I think it's pretty obvious what's going on. When it's going to be announced, or even if it will be announced... but it's a big part of the show now, Seth Rollins and WrestleMania."

Cody and wife Brandi departed AEW last month, with the pair reportedly having been working without contracts since December. Of course, as soon as these exits became official, the rumour immediately had the Rhodes' earmarked for a return to WWE. While WWE is said to have no interest in bringing Brandi - who performed under the name Eden Stiles in WWE - back into the fold, there is significant interest in a return for Cody.

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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 day job, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.