Cody Rhodes Wins 2023 Royal Rumble, Set To Face Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania

Cody Rhodes outlasted 29 other Superstars to win the 2023 men's Royal Rumble on Saturday night, punching his ticket to potentially face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39.

The men's Rumble opened the show, with Reigns set to face Kevin Owens later in the night.

The American Nightmare won from the No. 30 position and eliminated Gunther, who started the match at No. 1, setting the stage for a main event match at WrestleMania at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on April 1-2.

However, there was some consolation for The Ring General, who set a new record for lasting in the men's Rumble at one hour, 11 minutes and 25 seconds.

While some of the men's Rumble field was left a mystery ahead of Saturday night's event, there was also plenty of star power revealed beforehand, including Rhodes.

Rhodes had not competed in a match since the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on June 5, which saw him work through a torn pectoral muscle against Seth Rollins inside the same-titled structure.

Remarkably, The American Nightmare found a way to win that match, but after Rollins attacked him on the following episode of Raw, he landed on the shelf for the next several months with little-to-no updates.

That was until the weeks leading up to the Rumble when multiple vignettes of Rhodes' impending return aired on Raw. In one of them, he declared he would be back as part of the men's Royal Rumble match:

The 37-year-old made the declaration knowing he would have to go up against some of the top performers WWE has to offer, including Rollins, as well as several behemoths such as Bobby Lashley, Gunther and Omos.

There was also the element of surprise, as there was no telling which stars of today and the past would show up in the Rumble and compete for a chance to become world champion.

Rhodes' reintroduction was much like Triple H's before the 2002 Royal Rumble, so it came as little surprise that he won the contest just like The Game did 21 years earlier.

Since making his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 last year, the former All Elite Wrestling executive vice president has not hidden the fact that his primary goal is to become world champion.

After winning the Royal Rumble for the first time in his career, he is now just one win away from making that dream a reality.

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