Former WWE star on speculation that Cody Rhodes faked his Hell in a Cell injury
Ariane Andrew, formerly known as Cameron in WWE, has addressed suggestions that Cody Rhodes faked his gruesome injury at Hell in a Cell.
WWE announced shortly before the event that Rhodes tore his right pectoral tendon off the bone while preparing to face Seth Rollins. Despite showing severe bruising, he went on to defeat his long-term rival in a memorable 24-minute match.
Andrew, who worked for WWE between 2011 and 2016, spoke to SEScoops’ Steve Fall about whether or not the injury was legitimate.
“Dealing with wrestling, there’s always gonna be major injuries,” Andrew said. “Everyone always says it’s fake, ‘Oh my God, wrestling’s not real.’ But it is very real. Him showing up [injured], I don’t know, I started to learn with WWE and wrestling, what is real and what is fake? What’s to get people intrigued? Because, at the end of the day, this is still entertainment.” [0:39-1:05]
Rhodes received widespread praise from fans and his fellow superstars after Hell in a Cell. WWE described the two-time Intercontinental Champion’s victory as “the performance of a lifetime.”
Clarification on Cody Rhodes’ injury status
Can’t believe there are people who think Cody’s Injury is fake and they used paint. You can tell how swollen his arm is, you can see the pain he’s in, he rarely ever used it and if it was paint it’d wear off like Finn’s. No purple wore off on seth. People are idiots. #WWE #MARKS
Hilarious that there are fans bouncing between Cody is dumb for wrestling, WWE forced him to wrestle, and the whole thing is fake because they don't know what a torn pec injury looks like.
Pick your damn narrative. lol #hiac
As the tweets above show, some fans jumped to Cody Rhodes’ defense after doubts were raised online about his injury. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer also responded to the speculation, clarifying that the RAW star sustained a full pectoral tear and did not wear makeup.
Discussing the online theories, Andrew gave her opinion on how Rhodes was able to perform if he really did suffer a serious injury.
“When you are in a match and when your blood’s going, when the adrenaline’s going, you can be very injured but you’re just like, you know what, at the end of the day, as someone who is a superstar, as someone who wants to make sure they give the fans what they want, wants to make sure the fans got their money’s worth, they’re gonna do whatever they need to do to make sure they put on a good show," Andrew continued. [1:44-2:06]
With uncertainty surrounding his immediate in-ring future, Rhodes’ injury is expected to be addressed on Monday’s episode of RAW. WWE has not yet disclosed whether the 36-year-old is set to take time off due to the injury.
Please credit SEScoops and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.