Ahead of this past Sunday’s WWE Hell in a Cell premium live event, rumours began to emerge regarding a potential injury to Cody Rhodes, who was set to take on Seth Rollins inside the cell in the main event.
These reports were then corroborated by a number of sources, with WWE themselves confirming that Rhodes had torn his pectoral muscle “completely off the bone”, although he would ultimately still go through with the match. 
Dave Meltzler of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has also provided an update on the injury status of Rhodes, stating that the American Nightmare recently had surgery, as well as offering a potential time frame for a return to the ring.
“Rhodes had surgery on 6/9 in Birmingham, AL under Dr. Jeffrey Dugas (on television and in WWE news postings they mistakenly said the surgery was 6/8) this past week and will likely be out about six months, which makes the Royal Rumble probably the smart time frame for a return.”
-WON
Meltzer also commented on the general buzz surrounding the HIAC event, noting that whilst the number of Google searches remained relatively consistent with the typical number for a wrestling event of this size, the number of Google searches for Cody Rhodes in particular was the most seen for an individual wrestler ahead of a PPV for years.
“The show had the usual 200,000 Google searches that most WWE PPV shows get, similar to that of Double or Nothing the week before. There were another 200,000 searches that day for Rhodes, the most of any individual wrestler on a pro wrestling PPV show in years.”
-WON
Despite Rhodes revealing his noticably discoloured shoulder to the crowd ahead of his main event with Seth Rollins, the pair were able to deliver an outstanding match given the circumstances, with Dave Meltzer awarding the bout 5 stars.
Rhodes was written off WWE TV on this past week’s episode of Raw, following a sledgehammer attack from Seth Rollins. We wish Cody all the best in his recovery, and look forward to seeing him eventually return to the ring when the time is right.
