CM Punk & Cody Rhodes Have An Epic Promo-Seth Rollins Addresses Injury

Tonight’s “go-home” episode of RAW came to us live from the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA, with a highly anticipated face-to-face meeting between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes, both declared for this Saturday’s Royal Rumble, promoted for the show. The “face-to-face” was announced last week and has received heavy promotion in the days leading up to RAW, so much so that the main event of co-tag team champion Damian Priest against Drew McIntyre in singles action was the evening’s afterthought.

Seth Rollins’ Injury NOT a Factor?

As much of a ratings boost as I’m sure the Punk-Rhodes segment produced, it should’ve been Seth Rollins’ knee injury—an injury to his MCL, and a partially torn meniscus which was reported by FightFul.com last week—and subsequent decision as to whether he vacates his World Heavyweight title leading up to the Royal Rumble (a match that guarantees the winner a shot at the world title of their choice).

Instead, Seth made no announcement, other than the 3–4-month timetable on his injury, and was instead interrupted by the longest reigning Intercontinental champion in title history, Gunther. Gunther has been a force since his call-up to the main roster, and on top of being the longest reigning IC champ in history, he was also the NXT UK World champ and holds that record as the longest reigning champ.

Gunther and Seth’s promo was pretty typical for two men heading into the Rumble with high aspirations of winning it all, but what about Seth’s injury? Perhaps WWE is willing to wait out Seth’s injury; after all, the time on the shelf makes it conceivable that he will make WrestleMania.

However, Seth’s best shot to make Mania is to go straight into rest mode as he prepares for the vigorous rehab process, which when dealing with a knee injury, can be a tenuous process with unexplained setbacks.

Little was gained as for the future of Seth’s status as champ, but for Gunther, it was the kind of momentum you want to maintain heading into the Rumble. Throughout the telecast, much was made of Gunther’s performance in last year’s Rumble, and he was highlighted during WWE’s annual Rumble statistics video package.

With all of the heavy hitters scheduled for this year’s Rumble, Gunther, as a favorite, offers a certain cannon that WWE fans appreciate—the same cannon that makes Rhode’s chances in the Rumble interesting.

CM Punk-Cody Rhodes: An Elite Face-To-Face?

There are many subplots underneath the Punk-Rhodes faceoff aside from Rumble aspirations. After all, two of the most attention-grabbing news stories since the beginning of this decade have focused on Cody leaving the company he helped build in AEW for WWE and CM Punk working as a force to destroy that very same company from within (depending on who you ask). There were reports that Rhodes’ decision to leave AEW was predicated on CM Punk’s arrival and the trend in AEW of signing on “old WWE guys” for clout.

None of that dirt sheet material was necessary for this segment, and the nuanced storytelling that both men are capable of kept the audience in their palms. Punk opened up the segment, quite predictably, by telling a story of Cody’s father—the late Dusty Rhodes. Punk’s admiration for Dusty is well-known, but at this point, it feels repetitive for every Cody opponent to bring up his dad. The respect for a man who helped shape the entire sport is understood, but it feels lazy to begin every feud with Cody by first acknowledging a respect that has been previously given on large platforms.

Cody’s response was great because he attacked his promo with redundancy in his tone as he name-dropped legends in the sport that he says, “See Dusty” when they look at him.

“That when they see me, they can’t help but see the ‘American Dream,’ Dusty Rhodes,” Cody said to Punk in the center of the ring on RAW. “It’s a very large shadow.

Cody then remarked on his efforts to “be his own man” in the sport and how everything he did since leaving the WWE in 2016 was an attempt at achieving his goal while “not just living in the shadow but to be a light in that shadow.” These are very powerful words, and they evoke Cody’s struggle with remaining a “babyface” (light) in an era of wrestling that is far removed from his dad’s and where turning “heel” (the Darkness) is just part of a wrestler’s evolution.

An interesting moment occurred when Cody reminded Punk that there are “no friends” in the Royal Rumble, and Punk responded by acknowledging that fact and then reminding “The American Nightmare” that he’s “been in more Rumbles” than Cody. But before that acknowledgment, Punk asked Cody about “Sunday morning,” the day following Saturday’s Rumble.

Punk then recognized that for all Cody’s work, he had become his own man and made his own name. Punk, the mind game maestro, was only willing to give Cody that much so that he could subtly play into Cody’s insecurities by suggesting that Cody was “born on 3^rd base” with his famous wrestling father, and in reality, Punk, whose dad was an electrician, was more of the American dream than Cody.

Then Cody brought up Punk’s infamous “pipe bomb promo” in 2011 and how Punk’s inspired words were just that—words—because Punk left the WWE shortly after that without doing business and passing the torch. Cody said when Punk left, he took up the torch, which made him “more CM Punk than CM Punk.”

Tensions were raised at this point, and the conversation lost the vail of friendship that both men had used initially.

However, the ending was strange as both men were locked into an intense stare-down with their motivations not fully realized. After all, 28 other men offer up the same motivations for distrust as Cody and Punk see in one another and directing their anger at each other to begin a feud before the Rumble is without logic.

Of course, there are no friends in the Rumble, but to create unnecessary animosity with anyone is a fool’s mission.

It was announced earlier on RAW that Cody would get the cover of WWE 2K24, a fact that Punk referenced, and WWE made it a point to introduce the “back-to-back” storyline for Cody, who won 2023’s Rumble and looks to duplicate his efforts on Saturday.

However, WWE made it known that only Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin have won consecutive Rumbles, the latter of which remains the last competitor to achieve this feat.

All signs point to Cody as one of Saturday’s heaviest favorites to win. However, with reports suggesting that WWE is still unsure about the plans for Reigns at WrestleMania, things appear very fluid, meaning Cody is far from locked in as the winner.

Hulk Hogan Royal Rumble Picks

A really cool video package was an interview with Hulk Hogan, where he talked about his favorites heading into the Royal Rumble. His top pick was Cody, and his 2^nd pick to win it all was Punk, but Hulk then acknowledged the “wildcard” factor in Rumbles—a factor that makes this event a fan favorite. Of course, Hulk then teased the possibility of him entering the Rumble for “one last run.” Aside from Hulk’s tease, this was really cool, and WWE should do more of this.

During Super Bowl week, the network gets picks from old players, celebrities, and other athletes in different sports. Treating the Royal Rumble like a major sporting event helps to “get over” the sporting event of it all. This is 30 men attempting to win a shot at a world title. This kind of storyline suggests that anyone can win it, which gives it the underdog “Rocky” feel.

Getting Hall of Famers and other celebrities to wade in helps underscore the excitement and difficulty of such an event.

Men’s Tag Team Division

There was a fun tag team match between New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods against Imperium. At the match’s ending, all four men went through tables, leaving room to continue the storyline, but something bigger maybe building.

The New Day made it clear that they aren’t just “Booty-O’s” and pancakes; they can “throwdown” with the best of them. Their tone was serious and violent, which could be an awesome shift in their gimmick.

Aside from that, it was announced that DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) will challenge Judgment Day next week for the WWE Tag Team Championship. DIY has been on a roll and was one of NXT’s greatest tag teams. This is an opportunity to get gold around a real team and give the division some much-needed life.

The titles haven’t mattered much since the “Bloodline” storyline, but WWE has the talent to return the tag division to glory and compete with AEW’s elite division.

Big Boy Main Event: R-Truth Needs More Screen Time

R-Truth appeared on RAW through a video package with the MIZ and continued his streak of being one of the funniest things on WWE TV. Since returning to our screens, R-Truth has been a comedy act injecting life into Judgment Day.

While R-Truth should be allowed to do what he does best, he deserves a meaningful storyline (one that leads to an actual feud and match, preferably on a Premium Live Event). Instead, Truth was used as fodder for Priest to abuse just as the Judgment Day leader was in control.

Truth attempted to give Priest his “merch sale” money, but the money scattered in the ring following McIntrye delivering a shot to Truth. Priest landed his finisher and appeared to have the win in hand, but the ref, attending to a hurt Truth, was distracted long enough for McIntyre to recover and land the Claymore kick to pick up the “W.”

This was great stuff from Truth, but he’s capable of more. Maybe Truth can find a partner to face “Dom and Nick Mysterio.”

Time to take the Gamble on Gable

Chad Gable wrestled on WWE TV again. Gable lost the match again and was one of the evening’s best performers (even in a losing effort). It has been months now that Gable has consistently been one of the best, if not the best, wrestlers on TV.

With the Rumble days away, you’d hope that WWE has plans to book Gable strong. He has earned any chance he gets, and with his ability, I expect him to deliver. He has proven his ability to handle a mic and be funny, showing levels in his performances.

I won’t get my hopes up that Gable is anything but overlooked on Saturday, but WWE needs to get beyond the Vince McMahon “big guys rule” era.

Mario Mungia

Mario Mungia Jr. has a decade worth of experience as a combat sports journalist and correspondent which began with ThaBoxingVoice (TBV) as a podcast co-host, writer and editor-in-chief. Aside from his online resume, Mario spent a fair portion of his early career working for Spanish/English magazine Premier Round and the Mexican website Izquierdo. Mario has also contributed to NYFights while simultaneously working for MIC Sports Network as part of the broadcast crew covering local high school sports. Since then, he has launched his own podcast/live stream (Infighting/Work In Progress) and is covering pro wrestling for FightsATW.

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