For the first time in 26 years, the Royal Rumble match has a back-to-back winner. Cody Rhodes etched his name in history by repeating as he won the 2024 Royal Rumble.
2️⃣ YEARS IN A ROW!
RHODES TO WRESTLEMANIA!!! pic.twitter.com/YYwGa6MT11
— WWE (@WWE) January 28, 2024
Rhodes won the 2023 Royal Rumble, entering at number 30 and returning from his injury. He eliminated Gunther last year to win the event and headline Wrestlemania 39. However, Cody Rhodes fell short of his ultimate goal of winning the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship.
Rhodes’s goal this Wrestlemania season was to finish the story. Finish his story because many men wanted to finish their story as well. CM Punk, who returned at Survivor Series, wanted to win the Royal Rumble and headline Wrestlemania. Drew McIntyre wanted a redo of his Wrestlemania moment. He did not want Rhodes or Punk to win the match.
Then there was Gunther, who wanted to make history going to Wrestlemania as the Intercontinental Champion. Gunther wanted to follow up on his historic performance from a year ago and, this time, capture his moment. The odds were stacked against Rhodes for sure.
But it has been a year of adversity for Cody Rhodes. He loses to Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 39. Then has a trilogy of matches with Brock Lesnar. Has to deal with War Games and Shinsuke Nakamura. Plus, he was looking to be the first man to win the Royal Rumble in back-to-back years since Stone Cold Steve Austin won in 1997 and 1998. Austin followed up with Shawn Michaels, who won the Royal Rumble in 1995 and 1996.
Like Michaels in 1995, who lost at Wrestlemania XI to Diesel and won the title at Wrestlemania XII, Cody Rhodes hopes that history also repeats itself and he captures the title at Wrestlemania 40.
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Unlike previous years, where the winner would tease which champion he would fight, Cody wasted no time. Rhodes knew who he wanted and what he wanted.
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After paying homage to The Elite, he pointed straight at Roman Reigns in a suite watching the match from high above Tropicana Field. Reigns was not happy with the fact that Cody won the match. He thought he was done with him after Wrestlemania 39. But as Cody has stated all year, it is time to Finish the Story.
DO THE WORK.
FINISH THE STORY.@CodyRhodes just won the Men’s #RoyalRumble Match for the second year in a row! The American Nightmare has his sights set on @WWERomanReigns as the Road to #WrestleMania is underway! pic.twitter.com/RkHT2oAsLT— WWE (@WWE) January 28, 2024
As Cody celebrated on the turnbuckle, he pointed at Reigns and said, “I Choose You!”
IT’S TIME TO FINISH THE STORY!!!!!pic.twitter.com/63d8jju9Zw
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) January 28, 2024
If you go back to the end of Wrestlemania 39, during the press conference, Reigns and Paul Heyman said the Bloodline Storyline was just getting started. Rhodes also wanted to follow the Rocky movies and have a rematch with the champion as Rocky did. Will this be when Rhodes completes his story as he goes back to headline Wrestlemania 40?
Cody Rhodes entered the Royal Rumble at Number 15. A number that is not typically a winning number. Gunther entered shortly after that. Those two had a history, as previously stated. CM Punk entered the Royal Rumble at number 27. Remember, it was 10 years ago at the 2014 Royal Rumble that CM Punk wrestled his last match for WWE before returning to Survivor Series. Drew McIntyre entered at 29.
After their respective rivals eliminated McIntyre and Gunther, Rhodes and Punk were the last two men standing. Punk teased on his Instagram about a possible double finish similar to the 1994 Royal Rumble with Bret Hart and Lex Luger; these two men put on a mini-match to close out the 2024 Royal Rumble.
We got a Bionic Elbow from Cody and a Pedigree from Punk, and the two men also hit their finishes. Punk hit his GTS and Rhodes the Cross Rhodes. The ending came when Punk tried to hit the GTS and eliminate Cody and told him, “I didn’t wait 10 years to lose to Dusty’s kid.”
Rhodes reversed Punk’s move and threw him over the top rope to win the Royal Rumble for a second straight year.
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