Why Cody Rhodes Was Never Picked to Win the 2026 Royal Rumble

Cody Rhodes was never in the Royal Rumble winner pool — and that wasn’t an accident or a late creative change.

According to Dave Meltzer via Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE ruled Cody out early once his WrestleMania direction was locked. The decision centered on how WWE wanted Cody’s story to unfold after he was no longer champion. With that shift, creative narrowed his path to WrestleMania down to two options: the Royal Rumble or the Elimination Chamber. From there, the call was made.

Meltzer explained that Cody winning the Rumble was never part of the plan because it conflicted with the narrative WWE wanted to tell.

“Cody was no longer champion, had to win either Rumble or Chamber. And Cody was never scheduled to win the Rumble because the nature of the storyline was, is that he had to overcome the adversity and not win the Rumble and then went into the chamber. Similar story to John Cena last year.”

That line is the core of the decision. WWE did not want Cody taking the direct route. Another Royal Rumble win would have fast-tracked him to WrestleMania and removed the struggle element they were intentionally building around his character. By design, Cody had to lose first — and then earn his way back.

Once Cody was locked into the Elimination Chamber path, he was effectively removed from Rumble consideration entirely. With that box checked, the Royal Rumble winner had to come from elsewhere in the lineup. That’s where the final domino fell.

“So that led to Roman being the one who won the Rumble.”

With Cody excluded by storyline logic and other options reshuffled late, Roman Reigns became the Rumble winner by default — not as a pivot away from Cody, but because Cody was never part of that equation to begin with.

The takeaway is straightforward: Cody Rhodes wasn’t passed over, cooled off, or replaced. He was intentionally kept out of the Royal Rumble winner spot so his WrestleMania road would be built on setbacks instead of shortcuts.

Was WWE right to lock Cody into the harder path instead of another Royal Rumble win, or did they misread the moment? Drop your thoughts below and keep the discussion going.

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