Cody Rhodes Wins the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble Match
The road to WrestleMania just becomes the Rhodes to WrestleMania as Cody Rhodes won the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble 2023 PPV event.
Imperium’s Gunther was the first one to enter whereas Sheamus entered the match at #2. The two revisited their rivalry which produced a 5-star match at Clash at the Castle 2022.
The two had a back-and-forth for a while, then the Miz entered at the third spot followed by Kofi Kingston at #4. Johnny Gargano entered the fifth spot, and targeted the Miz. He worked along with Sheamus to make the first elimination of this match in the form of the Miz.
Xavier Woods joins the party as he enters the match at #6. After 90 seconds, Karrion Kross made his Royal Rumble match debut as he entered the ring at #7 followed by Chad Gable at #8.
The winner of the 2020 Royal Rumble match Drew McIntyre entered the match next at #9. He reignited his rivalry with Karrion Kross and eliminated him from the match. Santos Escobar also made his Royal Rumble match by entering the match at #10.
Montez Ford entered the ring at the eleventh spot and increased the count of superstars in the ring to 9. It soon dropped to 8 when Gunther eliminated Xavier Woods with a big boot. He also sent Kofi out of the ring, but it wasn’t sure if both his feet touched the floor or not.
Brock Lesnar is here at #12 in the Rumble match. He started clearing out the ring and eliminated Santos Escobar, Montez Ford, and Chad Gable. He faced off with Gunther, and right after it Bobby Lashley entered the match at #13 and speared Lesnar. Not only this, but he also eliminated Brock Lesnar from the match.
Brock Lesnar became furious and destroyed the announce table with the steel steps. He also stopped the #14 entered Baron Corbin and hit him with the F5 before he could enter the ring.
Seth Rollins came at #15, he pushed Baron Corbin inside the ring, hit him with the superkick, and eliminated him from the match. Otis entered at #16. Rey Mysterio was supposed to enter the match at #17, but he didn’t come out.
Bobby Lashley also didn’t last very long in the match and was eliminated by Seth Rollins. Dominik entered at #18 wearing Rey’s mask, and then he threw it away before entering the ring. He was followed by Elias at #19. But, he didn’t last long and was eliminated by Sheamus & Drew McIntyre.
The Judgment Day unites in the ring as Finn Balor entered the match at #20. He worked along with Dominik and eliminated Johnny Gargano. Booker T returned and entered the match at #21. However, his dreams were crushed by Gunther who eliminated him.
Damian Priest entered the match at #22. He was followed by Montez Ford at #23. After some struggle, Damian Priest threw him over the top rope to eliminate him from the match.
Edge finally returned to the ring and entered the match at #24. He speared the entire Judgment Day one by one and then eliminated Damian Priest and Finn Balor. He almost eliminated Dominik, but Finn Balor interfered and eliminated him from the outside.
Edge attacked Balor and Priest outside the ring when Rhea Ripley came out and attacked Edge. Beth Phoenix also came out and speared Ripley. Meanwhile, Austin Theory entered at #25.
The Nigerian Giant Omos entered the match at #26. He cleared up the ring and everyone was down except him. The Monster of all Monsters Braun Strowman entered the match at #27. He managed to get the upper hand on Omos once again and eliminated him from the match.
Braun’s tag team partner Ricochet entered the match at #28. The intercontinental champion Gunther managed to eliminate both Sheamus and Drew McIntyre. Logan Paul returned and entered the match at #29.
The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes entered the match at #30. He eliminated Dominik after hitting the crossrhodes. Logan Paul and Ricochet collided in the middle of the air after trying to do the same attack.
Braun tried to save Ricochet but got eliminated by Cody Rhodes. Soon, Ricochet was also eliminated by Austin Theory. Rhodes also eliminated Austin Theory. Now, Gunther, Seth Rollins, Logan Paul, and Cody are the final four participants.
Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins worked together for a while to take out Gunther before fighting each other. After having some back and forth with Rhodes, Rollins was eliminated by Logan Paul. The latter also got hit by crossrhodes, and was eliminated by the American Nightmare.
Now, the #1 entrant and #30 entrants are the final two participants. They pushed each other to their limits. Both of them were very close to winning the match. Cody hit Gunther with the Cody cutter, and the latter soon replied with a powerbomb. He then held Cody into the sleeper hold on the apron.
Cody survived and soon hit Gunther with the crossrhodes before eliminating him from the match. The American Nightmare is one step closer to achieving his dream of becoming the WWE Champion.
Cody Rhodes punches his ticket to WrestleMania 39, and faces the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion in the main event. Usually, the champion gets to choose which champion he wants to face, but he might not get the chance this year as Roman has held both the titles since last WrestleMania.
