
Seth Rollins welcomed Cody Rhodes back into the WWE almost four years ago in the form of an extremely intense trilogy culminating in a Hell in a Cell match.
Rollins' feud with Rhodes set the tone for the rest of Rhodes' time in WWE, with the American Nightmare getting the better of Rollins in all three matchups at WrestleMania 38, WrestleMania Backlash, and Hell in a Cell.
Rhodes suffered a torn pec during a brawl with Rollins on an episode of WWE Raw. Instead of finding a substitute or cancelling the match and beginning rehab, Rhodes went on to wrestle Rollins with a torn pec in a victory at Hell in a Cell.
Cody Rhodes was set to miss a large chunk of action going into the Hell in a Cell match in the summer of 2022. Rollins had already lost on two prior PLEs to Rollins, and with Rhodes' injury, all signs pointed to Rollins finding a way to walk away with at least one victory in the trilogy.
Rollins provided a different outlook on the Games with Names podcast.
"When he hurt his pec, at least to me, it felt obvious that he should win that match. That’s the best story. Even though he was going to be gone for nine months. ‘Do we give Seth the win because Cody is going to be gone?’ That’s oftentimes how it works. It just made sense from a story perspective. I was a heel, it wasn’t going to hurt me to lose at that point.”Seth Rollins
Rollins went on to feud with Matt Riddle later in the year and then wrestled Logan Paul at WrestleMania 39.
Rollins finally got his win back from Rhodes earlier this year at WWE Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia. He captured the Crown Jewel championship as World Heavyweight champion. Rollins admitted he felt the pec injury Rhodes suffered was a turning point in the creative direction of the match.
"In my head, I was hoping to get it back story-wise. I don’t know what the planned outcome of the match was before he hurt his pec. We hadn’t gotten that far. Usually, I just wait until the day of to understand what that’s going to be, and we take it from there."Seth Rollins
Rhodes recovered from his injury and won the 2023 Royal Rumble from the No. 30 spot. He was unsuccessful in capturing the WWE Undisputed Championship from Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 39.
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