At WrestleMania 37, Seth Rollins was set to have a match against a mystery opponent. Every other top star in WWE was already booked for the Showcase of the Immortals, so who else would dare step up to one of the greatest of his generation? Well, I wouldn’t want to spoil the reveal, so on a totally unrelated note, let me tell you about Cody Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes is a second generation wrestler, son of the late and legendary “American Dream”, Dusty Rhodes. His first tenure at WWE started in 2006, and despite showing promise he never rose to the heights he felt he should have. He tried everything, including cartwheeling around the ring and hissing through silver face paint as a character called Stardust.
Finally, in 2016, Cody left to try and carve his own path on the independent circuit. It’s safe to say he was successful. In the six years that followed, he not only perfected a new persona, “The American Nightmare,” but in 2019 changed the landscape of wrestling itself by cofounding the first major North American promotion to exist outside of WWE in almost 20 years, AEW.
Rhodes hadn’t just carved his own path, he’d helped create one for a whole roster of wrestlers at AEW. However, in February 2022 he shocked the wrestling world and left the company. With two months to go until WrestleMania, speculation about a possible WWE return began immediately.
Meanwhile back in WWE, Seth Rollins was still without an opponent for the grandest stage of them all. Seth Rollins, who had no wrestling heritage, but after finding success on the indies had been signed by WWE and risen fast within their ranks. Seth Rollins, who had been trained at WWE by “The American Dream,” Dusty Rhodes while his son Cody watched on during the worst years of his career. Seth Rollins, WWE’s golden boy, who would surely be the perfect first opponent for their returning prodigal son, “The American Nightmare.”
