Raw this past Monday (May 22) spent a lot of time giving Cody Rhodes another hill to climb.
As if trying to beat a pissed off Brock Lesnar twice in a row wasn’t a daunting enough task, WWE booked the Beast to attack Rhodes multiple times on the episode.
When Cody came out to take him final beating of the night, his arm was already in a sling from an earlier assault backstage. Lesnar than locked up that arm in a Kimura.
It seemed pretty (kayfabe) bad! And at WWE’s “media event” in Saudi Arabia today ahead of Rhodes/Lesnar II tomorrow at Night of Champions, we found out how (kayfabe) bad…
Yes, the American Nightmare’s arm is “broken”. That explains why he wouldn’t let those doctors check on him Monday night. That piece is kind of brushed off here — the above clip is Triple H’s answer to Michael Cole asking him how he can justify letting Rhodes wrestle with a broken arm — but whatever.
As mentioned above, this is a storyline way to make Cody the kind of fighting spirit underdog he was last year when he faced Seth Rollins with a legitimate torn pec injury.
It can also further protect him in a loss and provide justification for a third match with Lesnar in the coming months at Money in the Bank or SummerSlam.