Match Point is an ongoing series at Last Word on Pro Wrestling, where we look at intriguing matchups in indie wrestling and beyond. They may be dream matches, first-time matchups, or hotly anticipated rematches. This week, on Monday Night Raw, Cody Rhodes steps into the ring against The Miz. Let’s take a closer look.
The pro wrestling industry continues to reel from the return of Cody Rhodes to World Wrestling Entertainment at WrestleMania 38. Rhodes requested his release from WWE in 2016 and enjoyed a prolific career on the independent pro wrestling scene, eventually spending time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and IMPACT Wrestling. Rhodes went on to serve as an Executive Vice President of WWE’s competition, All Elite Wrestling. Rhodes departed AEW in February 2022, and speculation ensued about his next move.
Cody Rhodes vs The Miz – What to Know
Rhodes’s Return to WWE
Rhodes’s post-AEW destination proved to be WWE, where his fortunes had fluctuated during his 2007-2016 tenure. Although he captured multiple tag team titles and the Intercontinental Championship twice, Rhodes’s place on the card vacillated and his Stardust gimmick stagnated towards the end of his WWE tenure. In his absence, he built the “American Nightmare” character, a debonair babyface with the gloss of celebrity. This incarnation of Rhodes faced off against Seth “Freakin” Rollins at WrestleMania 38, in a match that seemed to be the foundation for an emotionally charged rivalry. However, Rhodes’s opponent for his first Monday Night Raw match in six years, on April 11, is not Rollins but The Miz.
The Miz Versus Rhodes
Rhodes and Miz have faced each other before, notably at the Extreme Rules 2013 event, as well as on Raw and Friday Night SmackDown throughout the same year. There are parallels between the two: both have the veneer of Hollywood fame, and have moonlighted away from professional wrestling in reality tv. The “American Nightmare” incarnation of Rhodes is a babyface bookend to Miz.
All Roads Lead to Rollins
A feud between Miz and Rhodes would undoubtedly trade on the similarities between the two, and where they diverge. While Miz’s character is vainglorious and self-seeking, Rhodes made clear on his appearance on WWE’s The Bump that his second run for the company is inspired by his late father “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, and grasping the brass ring his father did not attain: a WWE world title. Their storyline could easily offset the ego of Miz with Rhodes’s noble mission.
However, despite their tenuous handshake on April 4’s broadcast of Raw, Rhodes and Rollins are likely not done with each other. Rollins, who has pursued the WWE Championship and Raw Tag Team Championship fruitlessly in 2022, pivoted to an emotionally driven storyline with Rhodes, with the territorial “Visionary” bristling at Rhodes’s return. Rhodes’s appearance on The Bump gave more insight into the story, addressing Rollins’s tie to Rhodes as a star pupil of his father, Dusty Rhodes, during his time at NXT. Rollins is likely to interfere in Miz’s and Rhodes’s April 11 bout, as Miz proves to be a stalking horse on Rhodes’s path to a rematch with Rollins.
Cody Rhodes vs The Miz, WWE Raw – In Conclusion:
Despite enough similarities and contrasts between the two to have an admirable midcard feud, Miz’s and Rhodes’s match on April 11’s Raw is most likely destined to lead to the next chapter of Rhodes’s budding feud with Rollins. Their WrestleMania 38 match still weighs heavily on the imaginations of the WWE Universe and the pro wrestling industry at large, and the momentum between the two has too much depth of possibility for WWE to waste, especially so soon into Rhode’s homecoming.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can check out an almost unlimited array of WWE content on the WWE Network and Peacock.
