On April 2 and 3, WrestleMania 38 will be taking over Texas. The event will feature big matches and will have multiple celebrities participating. One of the biggest questions surrounding WrestleMania weekend is whether former All Elite Wrestling star Cody Rhodes will make his return to WWE.
Cody and his wife Brandi left AEW after nothing came from back and forth contract negotiations. With his deal expiring in December, Cody was working without a contract. An Executive Vice President of AEW, Cody has remained quiet regarding what is next for him. According to Mike Johnson of PW Insider, Cody has signed a deal to return to WWE.
WWE has yet to confirm Rhodes’ potential signing.
MORE: WrestleMania 38 event schedule: Times, TV channels, matches for WWE, NXT GCW, ROH, Impact
The current plan is for Rhodes to debut sometime during WrestleMania weekend, per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer. As far as what he will be doing, Meltzer has stated that a match between him and Seth Rollins has been internally booked. On WWE TV, Rollins has been searching for something to do during WrestleMania weekend.
In an update, Vince McMahon recently told Rollins that he will choose his opponent for night one of WrestleMania.
As far as how Rhodes will be presented if he is signed with WWE, he will reportedly not be going back to his Stardust character. According to WrestleVotes, Rhodes would be using his "American Nightmare" gimmick he created when he left WWE, with the same ring gear, theme music, and pyro. The presentation of his character appeared to be something that was important to Rhodes.
On the latest Talk is Jericho podcast, Chris Jericho seemingly confirmed that Rhodes will be returning to WWE.
“I’m pulling back the curtain a little bit on the wrestling business,” Jericho said, via Wrestling Inc. “You’re gonna discover how I’ve been able to be Chris Jericho no matter what company I work for or where I wrestle. You’ll hear how Danhausen gets to keep his name and gimmick from promotion to promotion. How Cody got to reclaim Rhodes from WWE even though he’s back in WWE…”
The son of Dusty Rhodes, Cody made his WWE debut in 2007. While with the company he held the Intercontinental Title two times and became a five-time tag team champion. Cody left WWE in 2016 after requesting his release. Since leaving, Cody has won the Ring of Honor World Title, the IWGP U.S. Title, the TNT Title, and the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title. He helped found AEW along with Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Tony Khan.
It is unknown if Brandi would return to WWE with Cody. She was a ring announcer with WWE and was the Chief Brand Officer for AEW. Recently, Brandi teamed up with DIGA Studios to bring her “Shot of Brandi” YouTube show to TV.
