Anyone who saw Cody Rhodes wrestle through one of the most visually uncomfortable injuries in recent memory at Hell in a Cell knows he’s going to try to come back from his torn pec as quickly as possible.
Apparently, Rhodes’ doctors realize that too.
Rhodes provided the hosts of Busted Open with an update on his recovery and said there was to timetable yet for his WWE return — but for good reason (h/t to Fightful for the transcription).
“I was told the last time I was there for my check up, after PT [physical therapy], they are not going to give me a timeline just yet for when I’m going to be back,” Rhodes said. “Because they are afraid that if they give me that timeline, I’m going to try and jump it by a month or two.”
Though WWE has to be hoping Rhodes can be back in action sooner rather than later given how well he was received since returning to the company earlier this year, it’s done its best to manage expectations. The official update provided in June suggested Rhodes would be out for nine months, effectively taking him off the table until the first quarter of 2023.
But Rhodes himself shot that idea down, saying he had “a plan of my own” for when he’d be back. Maybe the doctors read his Instagram Story before hatching their plan to avoid giving him a timetable.
One thing the American Nightmare didn’t do was downplay the severity of his injury, calling it “pretty gnarly” and saying “I almost hemorrhaged in the surgery because there was so much blood.” He also complimented Dr. Jeffrey Dugas, the doctor who performed his surgery, calling him “the best in the world.”
Other WWE wrestlers who have suffered torn pecs have been out between four and six months, so an optimistic hope for Rhodes to be back in the ring could be anywhere from Survivor Series to Royal Rumble. The latter feels like a very strong possibility since it’s historically been the event where superstars show up after some time away as surprise entrants in the Rumble match.
Just don’t be shocked if Rhodes is on TV even sooner than that, as even his doctors know he’s aiming to shorten his time on the shelf as much as possible.