Triple H went on The Pat McAfee Show this week to talk business, but he couldn’t help giving fans a little more than they expected.
In the middle of discussing WWE’s new deal with ESPN and the upcoming Wrestlepalooza event, he casually dropped a major reveal: Cody Rhodes will be in the building on September 20.
“I will give you a spoiler right now… Cody Rhodes will be at Wrestlepalooza,” he said, putting to rest weeks of speculation about when the champion would resurface.
Rhodes hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since Drew McIntyre took him out in a brutal on-screen attack.
That storyline's absence gave him space to film his role as Guile in the upcoming Street Fighter movie, a project he’s been promoting heavily on social media. Photos from the set have been circulating online, showing him alongside the rest of the cast, including Roman Reigns, who himself has been temporarily kayfabed out of the promotion to film his scenes.
Life outside the ring has been busy, too. Rhodes and his wife, Brandi, recently welcomed their second daughter, Leilani Ella Runnels.
Now, with his return locked in, the attention shifts to what role he’ll play at Wrestlepalooza. The safe bet is a confrontation with McIntyre to reignite their feud, possibly setting up a bigger match at Crown Jewel Perth in October.
But WWE has a habit of stacking the deck for major shows, and this year’s Wrestlepalooza is already loaded. Brock Lesnar and AJ Lee are set to appear, and it doubles as the first premium live event to stream on ESPN’s new app. That gives the company every reason to push for headline-making surprises.
Whether Rhodes shows up to talk, fight, or even defend his title, the spoiler has already done its job: fans are circling September 20 as the day one of WWE’s biggest stars makes his way back into the spotlight.