With the 2024 Royal Rumble rapidly approaching, it's hard not to think back on last year's contest and how it marked the triumphant comeback of Cody Rhodes, who returned to the ring after pec surgery to punch his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 39.

Though casual fans didn't know it at the time, this moment marked the start of Rhodes trying to #FinishTheStory, a phrase that has become a borderline joke for how frequently the overly serious “American Nightmare” took his pursuits, as, for him at least, it was a generational goal decades in the making. Rhodes cut promos on the subject, fought The Bloodline to get where he wanted to be, and did it all in the name of his father, the late, great “Dusty Rhodes,” who wrestled for the WWE Championship when it was called the WWF Championship but was never able to bring the belt home.

And then… he lost.

While losing to Roman Reigns is nothing new, as he hasn't lost a singles match cleanly – no offense to Seth Rollins and Xavier Woods – since 2019, when he lost a TLC match to King Corbin at TLC 2019, Rhodes took this one personally and began a year-long comeback tour to earn his rematch at the biggest show of 2024, WrestleMania 40, where he could make good on the loss with a career-defining victory.

Could that happen? Sure, but according to Justin Barasso of Sports Illustrated, that's unlikely to happen, as, according to the veteran reporter, WWE is looking to go in another direction with the “American Nightmare” at the “Showcase of the Immortals.”

“After a month of speculation that CM Punk would challenge world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, a new plan is in place. Gunther is the favorite to win the Royal Rumble and then dethrone Rollins on the first night of WrestleMania. Rollins revealed on Raw that he has a grade 2 MCL tear and torn meniscus. That would set up the potential for Gunther to squash an injured Rollins at WrestleMania, extending his dominant Intercontinental title run into the world title scene. Plus, that would allow Gunther to headline the Bash in Berlin premium live event in Germany this August as world champion,” Justin Barasso wrote for Sports Illustrated.

“Where does this leave Cody Rhodes? Multiple sources close to WWE Head of Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque have indicated that Rhodes will not headline this year's event, nor will he ‘finish his story' at WrestleMania. But there is still a new chapter to write with a marquee matchup to be had… against CM Punk.

“Rhodes and Punk laid the groundwork for their feud this past Monday on Raw. It was the most gripping, intense segment on Raw in nearly a decade. Punk was at his absolute best on the microphone, and Rhodes–who started slowly but built momentum–showed range on the mic that he has never before displayed. While this is not the main event against Reigns, it is a program that should keep Rhodes red-hot. The possibility exists that this match could be even more compelling than the main event, and defeating Punk would be a massive victory for Rhodes.”

In professional wrestling, like in most sports really, getting to the top isn't nearly as hard as staying at the top. While Rhodes was able to make himself the hottest act in WWE last year, that was before the returns of CM Punk and Randy Orton, and the elevation of LA Knight to “Megastar” status. Sure, Rhodes' story remains very popular, but after a full year without any upward trajectory, it's worth wondering if WWE believes his arrow is pointing slightly down, and would rather push for a career-defining win for Gunther over Seth Rollins on Night 1 and a potential match between the “Tribal Chief” and “The Great One” on Night 2. Good news for fans but bad news for Rhodes.

Cody Rhodes insists he's a fan of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

So, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson fully back in the WWE Universe as a board member for TKO and a serious contender to wrestle Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40, you'd think Cody Rhodes would have some ill feelings for “The Great One” in a CM Punk Pipebomb sort of way, right?

Internally, maybe but you wouldn't know it by his comments to Bleacher Report, as he attempted to put over the Baywatch star before assuring fans – or maybe just himself – that there's no way he'd get in the way of his story… right?

“You mentioned ‘The Great One' The Rock, nothing but respect for him. I went and saw ‘Jungle Cruise,' I'm a Rock fan,” Cody Rhodes told Bleacher Report. “I don't think he's the type that would come in and meddle with a story that's been being told over the past two years. I think he's probably up to something else, but you never know with WWE. I'll be watching just like everybody else when I'm not wrestling.”

Alright, does Rhodes really believe that Johnson wouldn't step in the way of his story if the opportunity presents itself, or is he simply being a good company man, which has always been his schtick in any promotion? Either way, where the first quarter of 2023 was all about Rhodes gearing up for the biggest match of his career, this year's might just be about coping with the realities of an ever-changing WWE landscape.