Triple H Confirms Cody Rhodes Will Return for WWE Wrestlepalooza

In a direct confirmation, Paul “Triple H” Levesque has announced that the Undisputed WWE Champion is officially back and will compete at WWE Wrestlepalooza on September 20.

Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Levesque put an end to weeks of speculation regarding the champion’s status. “I’ll give a spoiler right now: Cody will be back, in Indianapolis, for WrestlePalooza,” Levesque declared.

Rhodes has been off WWE programming for several weeks, both for a real-life commitment and a storyline injury. In reality, he was in Australia for the filming of the upcoming Street Fighter movie. To explain his temporary departure from television, WWE wrote him off after he was attacked by his confirmed Wrestlepalooza opponent, Drew McIntyre, on the August 8 episode of SmackDown.

Due to the uncertainty surrounding the champion’s return from filming, the company had reportedly prepared a backup plan for the event that would have seen Randy Orton step in to face McIntyre. With Rhodes’s return now confirmed by Levesque, that contingency plan has been completely discarded.

The question now turns to when exactly Rhodes will make his on-screen comeback. It remains to be seen if he will appear on this Friday’s episode of SmackDown or if he will wait to confront Drew McIntyre directly at the event inside Indianapolis’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse.