Ranking All 29 WWE Returns And Debuts In 2022

1. Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

How do you put someone who only wrestled eight matches over two-plus months before getting injured at #1, but Cody Rhodes’ departure from AEW and return to WWE was viewed as a seismic shift to the wrestling landscape.

Rhodes arrived as Seth Rollins’ surprise opponent at WrestleMania 38, blowing the roof off the stadium. What’s more, they had an excellent match, and then a tremendous series that culminated inside Hell in a Cell, where the American Nightmare reached legendary status by wrestling with a torn pectoral that would put him on the shelf for the rest of the year.

It wasn’t just Rhodes leaving the company he helped found; it was how he was presented and booked in WWE. Cody wasn’t just some returning superstar. He was booked on a level atop the entire roster, winning all his matches and being presented as something special. Rhodes looked like he could be a needle-mover for WWE, which they desperately have been craving.

If WWE can manage to rekindle that momentum upon his return, they could have another made man on the roster. Here’s hoping they can pull it off.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.