Following his victory at WWE Hell in a Cell in June 2022, Cody Rhodes underwent surgery to address a torn pectoral injury he sustained during weight training ahead of his match. Rhodes’ road to recovery would be a long one, but luckily, he had the support of his family, friends, and two of “WWE NXT”‘s brightest stars. Prior to his return at the 2023 Royal Rumble, Rhodes had been training at the WWE Performance Center alongside the likes of “NXT” Champion Carmelo Hayes and Joe Gacy.

During a recent episode of “Cheap Heat,” Hayes reflected on his experience working with Rhodes through his rehabilitation. “[WWE] had mentioned to me, they said, ‘Hey, Cody requested to train with you and Joe Gacy in the next week or so.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, shoot. Cool.'”

Hayes said that he had interacted with Rhodes two or three times prior, meaning they had already built up a decent rapport with one another, but being handpicked to help train with Rhodes proved to be an even richer experience for Hayes.

“He showed up and a lot of people are like, ‘We helped Cody,’ but I learned a lot from Cody in that in that time working with him,” Hayes said. “He was fine, like he didn’t need my help. I think he just needed the clearance from medical to go through. So, we had worked for like 3 or 4 days. We did matches on the fly. We were just working and we were just having fun….You know, [Cody]’s like, ‘Melo and Joe Gacy helped me,’ but he helped me a lot, actually.”

After 7 months on the shelf, Rhodes made his triumphant return in the Men’s Royal Rumble match and outlasted 29 other competitors to punch his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 39.