WWE: Cody Rhodes Announced for Royal Rumble, Legends Set for RAW 30, WWE VP of PR Departure

Cody Rhodes Announced to Make In-Ring Return at Royal Rumble 2023

As noted before, Cody Rhodes has been out of action for WWE since this past June due to a torn pectoral injury.

Monday’s WWE RAW show in Cincinnati, Ohio featured a video promo segment by Cody Rhodes. During the segment, Rhodes announced that he will be making his official in-ring return from injury at this year’s Royal Rumble 2023 event on January 28th in San Antonio, Texas. Rhodes also announced that he will be one of the competitors for this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match.

BREAKING NEWS: @CodyRhodes returns at #RoyalRumble.

The American Nightmare has officially declared for the 2023 Men's Royal Rumble Match!#Rhodes2Rumble pic.twitter.com/xGOTxTwdGB

— WWE (@WWE) January 17, 2023

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Current List of WWE Legends Announced for RAW 30th Anniversary Show

Monday’s WWE RAW show in Cincinnati also featured WWE officially announcing that several WWE Legends will be making an appearance at their upcoming RAW 30th Anniversary show on January 23rd in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Those initially announced were Road Dogg, Ron Simmons, X-Pac, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Teddy Long, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Kurt Angle, and The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie Bella).

THE LEGENDS ARE BACK NEXT MONDAY! 🤩#WWERAW pic.twitter.com/L6Ualj3dIj

— WWE on BT Sport (@btsportwwe) January 17, 2023

In a recent article by The Daily Item, it was revealed that Samu and WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi will also be making an appearance on the show. It was also revealed that they will be involved in the scheduled Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony segment on the show.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE Hall of Famers The Wild Samoans, Afa and Sika, are also currently scheduled to be making an appearance at next week’s show. Afa and Sika reportedly will also be involved in the Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony.

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WWE Vice President of Public Relations Reportedly Recently Departed

Longtime WWE employee and WWE Vince President of Public Relations Adam Hopkins reportedly recently departed from the company, according to PWInsider.

Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Hopkins departed from WWE late last week. Johnson reported that the general reaction within WWE’s staff and talent over Hopkins’ departure was one of shock. One person spoken to reportedly described Hopkins departure as the equivalent of “Howard Finkel” exiting in terms of an important high profile departure.

Prior to his departure, Hopkins had been with WWE since September of 1997 and was one of the longest tenured employees.

In a follow-up report, Johnson reported that WWE Vice President of Communications Stefanie Fiondella also had departed from the company last week. Prior to her departure, Fiondella had been in WWE from 2014 to 2019 and from 2021 to January of 2023.