"Real recognize real" - 28-year-old WWE star reacts to Cody Rhodes giving him a shout-out for helping him during injury

Cody Rhodes overcame the odds and returned from a torn pectoral muscle this past Saturday at WWE Royal Rumble 2023. He entered the Men's Royal Rumble match at #30 and went on to win it, ensuring a title match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.

The American Nightmare's injury happened while he was training ahead of Hell in a Cell 2022. He somehow managed to wrestle in the match but was written off of television on the following episode of RAW. Speaking on WWE's The Bump earlier today, Cody praised NXT Superstars Joe Gacy and Carmelo Hayes for helping him prepare for his long-awaited return.

"I just want to send love to Carmelo Hayes, he's going into the 2 out of 3 Falls match with Apollo (Crews). Carmelo Hayes helped me get ready and even though he is friends with Flip Gordan, I think he is a great guy," said Cody Rhodes [00:04 - 00:14]

Carmelo responded to Rhodes' shout-out on The Bump on Twitter and noted that real reconize real.

"Real recognize real 🎯," tweeted Carmelo Hayes.

Wrestling veteran wants Cody Rhodes to face top WWE star

Cody Rhodes and Gunther were the final two WWE Superstars in the Men's Royal Rumble match over the weekend.

Gunther entered the match at #1 but still gave Cody everything he could handle in the final minutes of the Royal Rumble. The Ring General and The American Nightmare battled for several minutes before Cody was finally able to Clothesline the Intercontinental Champion over the top rope.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted show, legendary journalist Bill Apter said he would book Cody Rhodes versus Gunther in a match before WrestleMania.

"Oh, I think that would be a great match [Gunther against Drew McIntyre], but Cody had said on WWE Digital Exclusively that he'd rather not wrestle Gunther again because of how tough Gunther was; however, if I had the book, that would be one of the first matches I'd make before WrestleMania." [11:20 - 11:40]

You can check out the entire episode of UnSKripted here:

Cody defeated Finn Balor in the main event of this past Monday's episode of RAW. Time will tell when he crosses paths with Roman Reigns before their Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles.

Are you excited for Cody Rhodes versus Roman Reigns at WrestleMania? Let us know in the comments section below.