When news broke that Cody Rhodes suffered a serious pec injury that could keep him out of action for the foreseeable future, it put a damper on a surprisingly compelling return to WWE by the well-traveled former AEW EVP.

When Rhodes opted to still wrestle his match with Seth Rollins at Hell in the Cell despite having a pec reportedly completely removed from the bone, it created one of the most compelling matches in the history of Hell in a Cell, which is a Pay-Per-View event that has a long and storied history of big-time performances.

And when news broke that Rhodes could be out for six months as a result of his injury, it was an unfortunate consequence of striving for glory and actually reaching it.

So, when WWE opted to give an update on Rhodes' injury, which was apparently made worse on Monday's edition of RAW by a sledgehammer attack from Seth Rollins, and their prognosis was nine months out of the ring instead of six, it was an unfortunate update, to say the least.

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The blacked-out silhouette of Kevin Nash with a text bubble reading, "He’s the perfect f**king champion right now" next to Cody Rhodes with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Toni Storm with a text bubble reading "Go see a f**king movie!" next to Cody Rhodes with the AEW Dynasty logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Cody Rhodes with a text bubble reading "Roman Reigns is elite" next to Roman Reigns with the WWE logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Now granted, maybe that prognosis is a bit goosed for dramatic effect. Maybe Rhodes will return around Christmas time, and when the line “wrestling has more than one royal family” hits, the pop will be massive. His match against Rollins will have legendary status by that point, and his ability to ramp things up in the lead-up to WrestleMania 39 could provide another Hollywood moment in the City of Angels. But until then, Cody will be off the road and on the mend for the foreseeable future.