Cody Rhodes is back with WWE and heading to the main event of WrestleMania 39 after undergoing surgery on a serious pectoral injury no less.
The American Nightmare returned to action in the men’s Royal Rumble match where he entered at number 30 before lastly eliminating Gunther to earn the win. With the victory, Rhodes secured a shot at Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at WrestleMania. However, in the eyes of many, there was one small problem.
In Rhodes’ absence, the storyline between Reigns and Sami Zayn had taken off to an unbelievable degree, with the latter now firmly the most popular star in the company. This led to calls for Zayn to face Reigns at WrestleMania and rumours that WWE’s hand could almost have been forced to make that change to their plans.
However, that speculation was seemingly put to bed by an acclaimed segment on the February 6th episode of Monday Night Raw. Rhodes and Paul Heyman tugged on the heartstrings of the audience in an emotionally charged promo battle as the former recalled Reigns’ Special Counsel showing incredible kindness to his late father. Heyman was brought to tears by the story and paid tribute to both Cody and his father, before twisting the knife by claiming that Dusty Rhodes had told him that Roman Reigns was the son he always wanted.
Cody Rhodes And Paul Heyman’s Promo Wasn’t Scheduled For Raw
While the segment was a huge hit with fans, it has been reported that Heyman wasn’t even originally scheduled to appear on the show. Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer broke down how the segment came together.
“Heyman was originally not booked to appear on the show. He was always going to be in Orlando because Brock Lesnar was booked on the show, and Heyman is a key part of all creative when it comes to Roman Reigns, Lesnar and Ronda Rousey.
That changed during last week. The concept of what was planned late last week and what ended up happening was completely different.
The final product was largely put together by Heyman and Rhodes in the direction both wanted to take it.
The very much behind-the-scenes key was to make this into the ultimate top match of the year, since that is what the world title match at WrestleMania is.”
Despite Sami Zayn’s huge popularity, it has been reported that he was “never considered” to be part of the main event of WrestleMania 39.