WWE Royal Rumble 2023 News: Cody Rhodes on Men’s Rumble Win, Rey Mysterio Injury, More News

Cody Rhodes Comments on Men’s Royal Rumble Victory & Gunther’s Performance

FOX’s Ryan Satin held a recent interview with Cody Rhodes. One of the topics discussed included Rhodes’ thoughts about his Men’s Royal Rumble victory at Saturday’s WWE Royal Rumble 2023 event in San Antonio, Texas. Rhodes also revealed that he had suffered an eardrum injury during the match.

“It was really funny, Sami Zayn was one of the first people I talked to today and I said, ‘I hope I remember how to do it’ and he said, ‘It’s like riding a bike,’ you know? And that’s real. It’s like this muscle memory honestly and it’s fun to do stuff you haven’t done in seven months like pushing off for the ‘Cody Cutter’, not sure if your foot’s there. But, I think the thing I missed the most is the thing it took me longest to get. I love this audience and some people think it’s try-hard or fake emotions. This is a real story. I don’t know how I stumbled onto this. I have the privilege but also the burden of I don’t play a character. I’m me and me was enough tonight… I popped my eardrum but I don’t care but gosh, just a wonderful Royal Rumble and like I said, the Rhodes don’t have any frame of reference on going to WrestleMania in terms of going on last in a big, big spot. So I’m proud to be able to say I’m the one to do it.”

Rhodes also gave his thoughts about a backstage talk he had with WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque following his match.

“Triple H saying he’s proud of me, that means a lot because I caused a lot of trouble and I don’t regret the trouble but maybe I regret some of the ways I handled it and to be able to be under his tutelage for that moment and not blow it, felt good.”

Rhodes also praised Gunther for his performance lasting from the very first entrant to the runner-up spot in this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble match.

“That guy’s mean, damn (Rhodes said about GUNTHER). When I went on my excursion, I went to wXw [Germany], I watched GUNTHER work, I watched him compete in the main event and I knew and I just had this conversation with another one of my peers, I got blood in my mouth right now and I like that. There’s something about being in the ring that you like a little bit of the pain. I think maybe a little of GUNTHER was a good thing but, my God, I needed to rest up. This one’s (pec) already been ripped and I can’t lose this one. That guy has a massive, massive, massive future and a present as well.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

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Reason for Rey Mysterio’s Absence from Men’s Royal Rumble Match

Saturday’s WWE Royal Rumble 2023 event in San Antonio. Texas featured Rey Mysterio announced as the 17th entrant in the Men’s Royal Rumble match. Despite the announcement, Mysterio did not appear during the match and instead his son Dominik was revealed as the 18th entrant holding and tearingup the mask of his father.

Dave Meltzer reported in a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources stated that the reason for Mysterio’s absence from the match was due to an injury-related issue. Mysterio reportedly suffered an unknown injury during his match against Karrion Kross during this past Friday’s SmackDown show in Laredo, Texas.

Meltzer speculated that WWE’s original plans likely was for Rey and Dominik to tease and setup a WrestleMania 39 feud between the two during the Men’s Royal Rumble match. Meltzer reported that Dominik holding Rey’s mask for his Rumble entrance very likely was WWE’s way of preserving as much of their plans as possible due to Rey’s injury situation.

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Royal Rumble 2023 News & Notes

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Vince McMahon was not seen in San Antonio on Saturday ahead of WWE’s Royal Rumble 2023 event in the city.

Sonya Deville revealed on Twitter that she suffered a facial injury during the Women’s Royal Rumble match.

Former WWE and Impact Wrestling talent Chelsea Green made her official return to WWE at Saturday’s Royal Rumble 2023 event. Green made her surprise return as the 20th entrant lasting for a grand total of five seconds in the match.

This year’s Women’s Royal Rumble match also featured Zelina Vega making an appearance dressed up as Juri from Capcom’s Street Fighter series. Capcom announced that Vega will be a special guest commentator for their upcoming Street Fighter VI game.

Saturday’s Royal Rumble 2023 event featured Rhea Ripley winning this year’s Women’s Royal Rumble match. WWE announced that Ripley managed to break the record for longest time ever spent in a Women’s Royal Rumble match in Royal Rumble history. Ripley lasted for 60 minutes and 3 seconds, breaking the previous record held by Bianca Belair in 2021 at 56 minutes and 52 seconds.

Saturday’s Royal Rumble 2023 event also featured Gunther breaking the record for longest time ever spent in a traditional Men’s Royal Rumble match in Royal Rumble history. Gunther lasted for 71minutes and 40 seconds, breaking the previous record held by Rey Mysterio in 2006 at 62 minutes and 15 seconds. The all-time record when including the 2018’s Greatest Royal Rumble match is currently held by Bryan Danielson at 76 minutes and 5 seconds, which he achieved in 2018.

WWE’s Royal Rumble 2023 event on Saturday reportedly generated around 500,000 searches on Google for that day, according to the Wrestling Observer. Dave Meltzer reported that this is usually the normal amount of searches for a major WWE event.