Cody Rhodes Wins At No. 30

Cody Rhodes won the WWE Royal Rumble in his return to WWE, entering the event at No. 30. Rhodes won by finally eliminating Logan Paul and GUNTHER, who entered at No. 1. In addition to having the most eliminations (5), GUNTHER also set the record for time spent in the Royal Rumble, lasting well over 62 minutes.

This year’s WWE Royal Rumble boasted a star-studded field, with a late entry by Brock Lesnar, and several possible crowd-pleasing surprises to boot. But surprises were few and far between. All told, the 2023 Royal Rumble only had two surprise entrants in the forms of Edge and Logan Paul.

The Rock remained the subject of speculation due to his ties to Roman Reigns and The Bloodline, while Stone Cold Steve Austin—who was curiously posting workout videos ahead of WrestleMania season—emerged as a late candidate. WWE reportedly made a big-money offer for Austin to headline WrestleMania, and the news coincided with a late surge for the Texas Rattlesnake’s odds. By Sunday afternoon, Austin settled in at +550, well inside the Top 5.

Neither Rock or Austin showed up at the Royal Rumble, which kicked off the Big 4 pay-per-view.

The 2023 Royal Rumble had its share of moments, but it certainly will not live up to the high mark of its predecessors, like Steve Austin’s dramatic third win at Royal Rumble 2001 or Brock Lesnar fending off half the field in Royal Rumble 2020. Instead, the WWE passed over dramatic surprises and nostalgia in favor of focusing on its future. The first surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble was Edge, who entered at No. 24. Legacy stars like Lesnar, Edge and Lashley each spent minimal time in the Rumble in favor of highlighting rising stars like GUNTHER and Dominik Mysterio.

Suspicious by his absence was Sami Zayn, who was a trendy pick to win the Royal Rumble match. During the pre-show, Roman Reigns demanded Zayn stay by his side the entire night.

Headed into the 2023 WWE Royal Rumble, fan speculation was centered around two favorites—Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn. Zayn and Rhodes seemed to have equal chances to win the Royal Rumble, but for two entirely different reasons. Rhodes is being propped up in the comeback role. WWE curiously announced Rhodes’ return for the Royal Rumble weeks in advance.

Replicating Triple H’s 2002 comeback vignettes, scored by Creed’s “My Sacrifice,” Rhodes was built up as the most prized return of the Triple H Era. As a result, the oddsmakers gave Rhodes a slight edge with 1/1 odds compared to 3/2 odds for Sami Zayn. In fact, Zayn’s odds are impressive considering he was not even announced for the Royal Rumble. Rather, Zayn took the scenic route to the top of the sportsbook through his Emmy-worthy performance as The Bloodline’s lovable fish-out-of-water and Honorary Uce.

As Sami continued his rise as an unlikely Royal Rumble favorite, around the same time Cody Rhodes was set for a well-produced heroes welcome, fans began developing Twitter PTSD. In fact, some fans prepared for WWE’s fickle fanbase to turn on Rhodes in favor of Zayn. This very issue had gained so much steam, Zayn addressed it himself in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani (h/t WrestleZone).

“I don’t know if that’s true or not,” Zayn said about the possibility of fans turning on Rhodes.

“I don’t know that in the fans’ minds, maybe me and you are looking at a certain point a certain way because we’re kind of like diehards, but I think there’s a lot of casual fans that are just kind of along for the ride. And I don’t think the fans are kind of where they were five, six years ago, where they kind of would like revolt. And were like, ‘No! Daniel Bryan is the guy. You’re trying to give us Batista? No! We’ll force you!’”

“Whether it’s Cody, whether it’s anybody, it could be anybody,” Zayn continued.

“If it’s not done right, it could kind of hurt that person. But you know, we work with a lot of people who know how to do things right. So if I’m not the guy, and genuinely as of this exact conversation, one day before the Royal Rumble, I have no idea what the plan is; I have nothing. I don’t know; it just doesn’t feel that way.”

Contrary to social media paranoia, the honeymoon period between Cody Rhodes and WWE fans is alive and well. Fans cheered Rhodes from the moment his music hit and stayed with him throughout the climactic final moments of the Royal Rumble match. There’s been far more fan allegiance to WWE following the arrival of AEW. WrestleMania season revolts, like in 2014 with Daniel Bryan or in 2019 with Kofi Kingston and Becky Lynch, are far less likely. With Triple H in charge (for now), fans are wise to trust in the process on the road to WrestleMania 39.