Hours before PPV customers and everyone with Peacock premium subscriptions were to tune into WWE’s Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, news broke concerning a major superstar being unexpectedly hurt ahead of a high-profile bout. It’s looking like Cody Rhodes suffered an injury the day before one of his biggest matches since returning at WrestleMania, and it might just impact his big match with Seth Rollins.
Wrestling fans first got word something was up with Cody Rhodes when reports surfaced claiming he'd injured his pectoral muscle(s) and couldn’t perform at a house show on Saturday, June 4, in Champaign, Illinois. Rhodes was replaced by Drew McIntyre in that instance, though he apparently still made an appearance at the end of the match and briefly chased his proposed Hell In A Cell opponent Seth Rollins. Dave Meltzer revealed on Sunday Night’s Main Event (via WrestlingNews.co) what’s going on and his thoughts on Rhodes participating in Hell In A Cell:
Cody was injured lifting weights. From what I gather, it’s a pretty serious injury. My impression is that he is working the match tonight with the injury and I guess will get it taken care of later. The injury is legit. Everything that I heard was that he was working tonight. The doctors may say you can’t, I don’t know. It’s not an in-ring injury, it was a weightlifting injury.
Cody Rhodes is apparently suffering from a legitimate injury and, per Dave Meltzer, it’s a pretty serious one, though details aren't plentiful. Meltzer still believes Rhodes will likely compete in the match against Seth Rollins, given its importance, but one has to wonder if or how his physical setbacks would impact the match. There’s also a chance that Meltzer is wrong, of course, and that Rhodes will end up bowing out of the match, possibly to be replaced by another superstar.
With that being said, Cody Rhodes posted the following on Twitter, heavily implying he’s still feeling good enough to perform as planned:
You ready Chicago? #HIAC @WWE @AllstateArena pic.twitter.com/iDLSt2tJfvJune 5, 2022
If Cody Rhodes takes it to the ring at Hell In A Cell, there's obviously the possibility his alleged injury could get worse, thus impacting not only this event but also his storylines in the weeks (or maybe months) to come. With Roman Reigns working limited hours and other key superstars out of the limelight, it seemed like Summer 2022 would be Rhodes’ time to shine in WWE as a top star. If he’s scheduled to miss time with the pec injury, it doesn’t seem like he’ll get a ton of utilization during this peak time for him to really shine.
Right now it’s important to remember that nothing is 100% confirmed and we don’t know the full story. It’s possible that things aren’t quite as serious as what’s being reported, and it may all actually play into the kayfabe narrative in some way. We’ll just have to wait and see and keep a close eye on Rollins and Rhodes during their big pay-per-view match.
WWE’s Hell In A Cell begins its coverage on Peacock Sunday, June 5th at 7:00 p.m. ET. There are a lot of matches on the card and a lot of excitement around the event, so hopefully, the night is known for delivering a ton of memorably painful moments over the years.
