Cody Rhodes may have hit a serious roadblock on the way to WWE SmackDown. His unmistakable “Liberty One” tour bus was spotted at the scene of a crash in Houston on Friday morning, just hours before Rhodes is scheduled to make his WWE television return in Corpus Christi.
A photo circulating online shows Rhodes’ massive black tour bus pulled over near West Mount Houston Road and Texas State Highway 249 at Exit 57B. Police can be seen at the scene, and a white car sitting next to the bus has significant damage along its side. There’s no mistaking the bus either. Rhodes’ face is plastered across the back of the thing as part of his Street Fighter-themed wrap, with “LIBERTY ONE” printed underneath.
The Squared Times shared the image Friday morning and identified the vehicle as Rhodes’ tour bus. The bus itself doesn’t appear to have suffered major visible damage in the photo, but the white car next to it clearly took a hit.
Here’s where things are still murky: there has been no official word from Rhodes or WWE explaining exactly what happened. It also hasn’t been confirmed who was driving, whether Rhodes was actually on the bus when the crash happened, or whether anybody involved was injured.
The timing couldn’t be much worse for Rhodes. He is scheduled to return on the September 18 episode of WWE SmackDown tonight for a sit-down interview with Michael Cole after disappearing from WWE television following his latest loss to Randy Orton.
Rhodes hasn’t been seen on WWE television since Orton stole the win from him at Sunday Night’s Main Event on September 6. That fight got downright nasty, with Orton eventually using a low blow before dropping Rhodes with an RKO and stealing the three-count.
Rhodes then skipped last week’s SmackDown in Mexico City, making tonight’s appearance his first chance to explain what comes next after the Orton loss. Now, before he can even sit down with Michael Cole, photos of his tour bus sitting next to a wrecked car have started flying around social media.
As of this writing, WWE still has Rhodes advertised for SmackDown, and there’s no confirmation that the crash will keep him off the show. Until Rhodes or WWE speaks up, though, there are still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding exactly what happened on that Houston highway.
Rhodes was already walking into SmackDown with plenty to talk about after Randy Orton handed him another painful loss. Now his giant “Liberty One” bus turning up at a crash scene hours before showtime just gave the American Nightmare one more piece of real-life chaos to deal with before the cameras start rolling.
What do you think happened with Cody Rhodes’ tour bus, and do you expect him to still appear on SmackDown tonight? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
