Why Cody Rhodes Was A Good Men's 2023 Royal Rumble Winner (& 5 Better Options)
With much of the WWE Universe still having a bad taste in their collective gullets from last year’s Royal Debacle, Sheamus and Gunther immediately erased that horrid memory and the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble escalated from there. The entire sixty-plus minutes told all sorts of simple stories to keep the action flowing.
Related: 5 Best Moments Of The 2023 WWE Royal Rumble PPV (& 5 Worst)
It was a smart move to start the show with the Men’s Rumble match. Not only was it infinitely better than last year’s show in every conceivable way, but the right man, Cody Rhodes, won, and the seeds have been planted for the American Nightmare to realize the dream. Howver, several others could have won and still paved a huge road to the main event of WrestleMania.
10 Better Option: Gunther
Why not shake things up a bit? Especially after entering at number one. It would certainly make for an interesting build to WrestleMania to have two heels colliding for the first time in the main event. But with the showing he had at The Rumble, it’s really hard to boo the Ring General and not pledge fealty to The Imperium. Gunther easily had the biggest hair-raising moment in the match during his brief face off with Brock Lesnar. From number one until the very end, Gunther was the MVP of this Rumble. No one would have minded one bit if Gunther won the whole thing.
9 Cody Rhodes: All Rhodes Lead To WrestleMania
He returned last year as a big surprise and immediately declared his mission statement to become the WWE Champion. Even without getting sidelined, the story wrote itself that Cody was going to win the 2023 Royal Rumble and head to WrestleMania to put his own bloodline up against Roman Reigns and The Bloodline at WrestleMania 39.
Related: WWE Royal Rumble 2023: Every Surprise Entrant Ranked From Worst To Best
The sentimental favorite immediately became “the great white hope” to dethrone The Tribal Chief.
8 Better Option: Sheamus
The birthday boy and The Ring General annihilated for the first two minutes of The Royal Rumble. The war these two had at Clash Of The Castle was certainly fresh in everyone’s minds and the match served as a backdrop to building up to what will hopefully be a huge WrestleMania match and moment for Sheamus defeating Gunther. But while he desires to finally win the IC title, Sheamus certainly wouldn’t have minded, nor been a bad choice at all to make a run at The Tribal Chief.
7 Cody Rhodes: The Grand Return
From the likes of Triple H, John Cena, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, there has been a tradition of having humongous returns from injury to return at the Royal Rumble, win the whole thing and begin their climb back up to the top of the summit. The return from a torn pec only highlights that return and subsequent journey to WrestleMania - as if Cody’s heart and desire needed more to add to the story. All of the videos with him working out and his dog looking on only served to make this moment as important as it is meant to be.
6 Better Option: Drew McIntyre
After coming up short at Clash In The Castle, Drew McIntyre still had his sights firmly locked on The Tribal Chief and taking down The Bloodline. Just like his buddy Sheamus, as a former Royal Rumble, The Scottish Warrior would have been a viable and believable choice to win the Rumble and head to WrestleMania to perhaps finally defeat the Head Of The Table. With the showing he had at The Rumble, it certainly got the fans right back behind him.
5 Cody Rhodes: Calling His Shot
Yes, while everyone who enters a wrestling ring should have the desire to become the WWE champion, Cody Rhodes called his shot the day he came back, he called his shot the night afterwards, the day he got injured, and every moment of his comeback video.
Related: 10 Major Royal Rumble Returns That Were Announced Ahead Of Time
There have seldom been bigger character traits in a wrestler that to not have Cody Rhodes win at The Royal Rumble would have completely squashed him and buried him in the fans eyes.
4 Better Option: Seth Rollins
With the entire world singing his song, one thing is very apparent, Seth Freaking Rollins is the new showstopper. He has spent the last few years or so making sure that no matter where he was on the card, Rollins was able to put on the performance of the night. Plus as far as storylines are concerned, all four of his title reigns came at the hands of defeating Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns twice respectively. There are very few superstars with such a woven tapestry of history between him and The Head Of The Table. Unfortunately, Rollins came up short thanks to Paul Logan of all people.
3 Cody Rhodes: From Undesirable To Undeniable
When Cody Rhodes started his career years ago, it was clear he would always be thought of as “Dusty’s Kid.” That mentality from the locker room and the company had seemingly eaten away at Cody to the point that he felt he had to leave to reinvent himself and accept the fact that he’ll always be representing The American Dream in battle. From the moment he returned to the WWE, the undesirable to undeniable mantra has followed The American Nightmare - making it undeniable that he would win the Rumble and punch his ticket to WrestleMania.
2 Better Option: Austin Theory
After having awful “go away” heat thanks to his mentorship with Vince McMahon, Austin Theory rebounded to have an even better year than it was assumed he was going to have in the first place. He has managed to become a top heel on Raw; as every fan wants to see Ziggler, Rollins, or Lashley kick his tail and take the US Title from him.
Related: Triple H Talks Austin Theory's Future, Why He Gave Him His First Name Back
Winning the Rumble would have instantly made him the absolute very biggest heel in the company.
1 Cody Rhodes: Finish The Story
It was written on his weight belt, it’s why he fought so hard to return, and you’d have to believe that it’s something he dreamt up the moment he got out of surgery. Despite the recent push by some fans to see Sami Zayn win the Rumble, if Cody didn’t win, there might have been a “Daniel Bryan” like riot on the WWE fans. Now with The Rumble victory, the real work begins for The American Nightmare to do something his father couldn’t do, something his brother couldn’t do, and something he couldn’t even do in the company he helped start.
