With the Royal Rumble in the rearview mirror, WWE is looking forward to the Elimination Chamber in Montreal on February 18th.
Ahead of WWE Raw in Tulsa, OK on January 30th, Byron Saxton dropped the huge announcement that the United States Championship is set to be defended inside the Elimination Chamber, and that Monday Night Raw will feature multiple qualifying matches to determine the participants vying for Austin Theory’s title.
One of the qualifying matches will see Seth Rollins go head to head with Chad Gable. Rollins has a storied history with the US Title, having won it most recently when he defeated Bobby Lashley after Lashley was attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar on Raw’s October 10th season premiere. Gable, on the other hand, has never been United States Champion.
The second qualifying match will see Baron Corbin take on Johnny Gargano.
BREAKING NEWS: @ByronSaxton just announced HUGE plans for tonight’s #WWERaw including @CodyRhodes kicking off the show!
The Road to #WrestleMania has begun! pic.twitter.com/UigrFWvtF4
— WWE (@WWE) January 30, 2023
Cody Rhodes Will Kick Of WWE Raw In Tulsa, OK
Byron Saxton also announced that, fresh off his Royal Rumble win, Cody Rhodes will be kicking off the upcoming episode of Monday Night Raw.
Prior to the Rumble, Rhodes hadn’t been seen in WWE since the night after Hell in a Cell back in June. Despite his torn pectoral muscle, he defeated Seth Rollins inside the Cell, but he was written off television following an attack from Rollins the next night on Raw.
Weeks ago, it was announced that Cody Rhodes would be returning to WWE at long last, and vignettes aired on WWE programming to highlight his return from injury after undergoing surgery for his torn pec.
Speaking to Ryan Satin after his monumental Royal Rumble win, Rhodes revealed that he’d popped his eardrum during the match, but that he was unbothered as it was one of the greatest nights of his career.
Cody Rhodes is set to face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, CA.