Did Cody Rhodes actually get injured? The truth revealed following his WWE return

WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes had to be taken out on a stretcher at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 14, 2024. Kevin Owens took out his frustration on The American Nightmare and dropped him with a Package Piledriver to injure the Undisputed Champ. Interestingly, Rhodes recently returned to the promotion in less than two weeks. This begs the question if he was really injured in the first place.

The 2024 WWE Holiday Tour has begun. The city of Jacksonville hosted a show featuring SmackDown Superstars. Interestingly, the main event of the card saw Kevin Owens take on Cody Rhodes in a Steel Cage Match. Moreover, The American Nightmare actually interrupted a KO promo to start the match.

WWE had noted that the Undisputed Champion was diagnosed with axial compression of the cervical spine and a cervical strain with spasm. Despite this, Rhodes didn’t just fight but also won the match by escaping the cage just a few seconds before Owens.

This is odd because so far, Randy Orton, who was also injured via a Piledriver from Owens, is yet to return. Hence, it is possible that the injury of the men’s inaugural Crown Jewel Champion could be kayfabe. However, it is also possible that he is injured, but made an exception for the Holiday Tour. The real answers will hopefully be available on the upcoming episode of SmackDown.

Cody Rhodes could lose his title to Kevin Owens

The American Nightmare has won all three matches he competed in against Kevin Owens this year. Despite this, KO has a solid chance of beating and dethroning Cody Rhodes to become the undisputed WWE Champion in the future.

Rhodes is already injured right now. However, despite this, he will try to take The Prizefighter on, like his 2022 Hell in a Cell Match against Seth Rollins. But given the momentum Kevin Owens is carrying, he can turn the tides and win the match.

Additionally, The Rock had also foreshadowed that The American Nightmare could lose his title before facing him. The Final Boss had warned Cody Rhodes that he would be attending to the unfinished business he has with Rhodes even if the latter wasn’t the Undisputed Champ by the time he returned.

This would be a very attractive storyline for WWE to follow since removing the belt would mean that either superstar could win the match. Thus, the energy of fans for the already highly-anticipated match will increase by several folds. It would be interesting to see what lies in the future for Cody Rhodes.