Tag: Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes thinks he ‘failed’ as AEW EVP, interested in WWE management role

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After “failing” the first time around, Cody Rhodes is once again interested in taking on a management role in professional wrestling.

Rhodes shared on a new episode of his “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast that he visited WWE headquarters and met with different departments to get a feel for what it would be like working there. Though he believes he ultimately failed as an executive vice president in AEW, Rhodes says he learned a lot from that experience and now has the bug to work behind the scenes again.

“I wanted to go to the office to see what life would be like at the office, at WWE HQ. I had a career before as an executive vice president. I failed at it — had some success along the way but failed,” Rhodes said. “Ultimately learned a great deal from said failure, as we do, that’s what we need.

“But I wanted to go. I said, ‘I’m going to treat it like I’m going there for a job.’ I’ll write a sample format. I’m going to write a full tech format, times and everything. And not a dreamer one, I’ll take what we have now and put one together. I’m going to go and share that with Bruce Prichard and the creative team. And I’m going to sit with them. I’m going to meet with Lee Fitting and his team. I’m going to meet these departments. And not the, ‘Hi, I’m such and such.’ Not that. We can do that in three minutes. I’m going to actually, ‘No, what can I really do for you?’ Like, ‘Community, what can I really do for you?’ Do I fit in anywhere? Because I got the bug.”

Rhodes said, to prepare for this experience, he reached out to some people on the roster to see what ideas they had for their own creative. He received a variety of responses, but Kit Wilson — the guest on this podcast episode — went above and beyond by sending nine full PDFs of ideas. Rhodes was stunned by how much thought Wilson has put into his character and is excited to see what’s to come for him.

When he departed AEW in 2022, Rhodes did not think he would want to work a pro wrestling management job ever again. He’s the current Undisputed WWE Champion and has held the belt three times since his WWE return. Rhodes did not state whether he would be interested in holding a WWE management position while still active or if this is something he would want to transition into when he eventually retires from the ring.

Cody Rhodes worried WWE is giving fans ‘an overload of information’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Cody Rhodes is worried that WWE, and pro wrestling companies in general, are sharing too much insider information with fans.

On his “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast this week, Rhodes said he’s concerned that overloading fans with business metrics could lead to them not caring about the product. He thinks a lot of fans just want to watch the show, cheer the wrestlers they like, and boo the ones they don’t. That’s how Rhodes approaches the things he is a fan of. With a franchise like Star Wars, he is not interested in behind-the-scenes news and does not want to be spoiled.

“Everything is documented. It’s scary,” Rhodes said. “It’s scary, but it also holds you accountable, I guess. I’m in my head on some of the things as of late about every single piece of WWE right now — and every wrestling company — somebody needs to share and put it out there. And I think what’s going to happen is an overload of information to where fans just stop caring. Like, ‘I watch the show. I like the show. I like this guy. I don’t like that guy. I like her. I don’t need to know how many people were in the seats.’ It’s wild. I don’t know who’s keeping all of these records. But I’m getting tired of — what do we need this for? Who’s this for? It seems like it’s doing great, you know? Anyways, that’s my bit.”

Rhodes’ WrestleMania 42 program against Randy Orton included some of these insider references after Pat McAfee was inserted into the build. Though still touted as one of the highest-grossing events in WWE history, McAfee mentioned that attendance was down year-over-year and said he was trying to save the business by helping Orton win.

The Rhodes vs. Orton WrestleMania match saw Rhodes get the victory to remain Undisputed WWE Champion. McAfee opted out of continuing with the angle after WrestleMania, praising Rhodes and saying that the business does not need to be saved after all.

Report: Ted DiBiase Jr. was never considered for the Randy Orton-Cody Rhodes WWE WrestleMania feud

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Long rumored to be a part of Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes’ WWE WrestleMania feud, a recent report revealed that Ted DiBiase Jr. was never considered for it.

At WWE WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Nevada, fans saw Ted DiBiase Jr. in attendance with his lawyer. Despite DiBiase Jr. being found not guilty in a fraud case, a recent report from Fightful Select revealed that he was never considered to be involved in Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania feud.

Based on DiBiase Jr’s past storyline connection to Orton and Rhodes, fans heavily speculated him to be a part of the feud. However, that did not happen, and despite him being in the stadium and filming his reactions, there were reportedly no “serious considerations” for DiBiase Jr. to get involved.

Fightful Select also reported that while DiBiase Jr. attended WrestleMania with his lawyer, he was not invited by WWE as a guest. Instead, he was in town for WrestleCon. One of Fightful’s sources speculated that he was sponsored by the water company on his shirt for a ticket.

Before WWE WrestleMania 42, Orton, while speaking to Culture Kings, revealed that he was owed $25,000 by DiBiase Jr., although the reason for this still seems missing.

Ted DiBiase Jr. opens up after acquittal

After being found not guilty on multiple charges in the fraud case, Ted DiBiase Jr. shared a statement on his social media regarding the acquittal.

“They got it right. And I give all the glory to God. I give all the credit to my lord and savior, to [my legal team]. I think they did an amazing job of portraying the truth,” DiBiase said. “Seven years of being slandered and made to be something that is completely false has about torn my family apart, but we’re strong. And I’ve had so many friends and so much family that have come around us. And I’m proud that we’ve walked through this. And I’m so thankful that it’s over.”

Gunther attacks Cody Rhodes on WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Cody Rhodes’ next challenger for the WWE Championship appears to be set.

After Ricky Saints made his SmackDown debut and challenged Cody Rhodes to a match, the two faced off later in the night. Rhodes won after connecting with the crossroads. However, he had little time to celebrate as Gunther immediately came in for the attack, latching on a sleeper hold. Officials attempted to intervene, but it was of little use as The Ring General continued on until eventually letting go to grab onto Rhodes’ WWE Championship, holding it high in the air.

Gunther was last seen at WrestleMania 42, defeating Seth Rollins. It was Bron Breakker that was the deciding factor, making his return by spearing Rollins just prior to the finish. The two have continued their feud since then, setting up a match for next weekend at Backlash.

Before Saints made his arrival, Rhodes announced that despite his eye injury, he was cleared for in-ring competition. After he successfully retained the title against Randy Orton at WrestleMania, an irate Orton continued to attack Rhodes after the bell. He finished things off with his trademark punt that has rarely been used in recent years. The punt connected with Rhodes’ orbital bone, injuring it in the process.

Cody Rhodes has named his dream match

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes has opened up and revealed CM Punk as his dream match opponent.

Following his win at WWE WrestleMania 42, fans saw Cody Rhodes in a segment with CM Punk on the April 20 episode of Monday Night RAW. The segment saw Punk tease a title match against Rhodes.

Recently speaking to ESPN, Rhodes opened up and named himself vs. Punk as his dream match.

“All-time dream match – I think fans think might happen, but I think is very hard to put together – I will use myself in this example, but a dream match that I’d like to be part of is probably myself versus CM Punk,” he said.

However, he further opened up and questioned the chances of WWE making the match happen. “The likelihood of it happening, who knows? Wrestling has gotten more… it’s difficult. We’re collaborators these days, so it’s difficult. I don’t know if he’d want that, and I don’t even know if I’d want it. But I know it would just be really great and be very good for wrestling,” he finished.

At WrestleMania 42, while Rhodes retained his title over Randy Orton, fans saw Punk lose his World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns in a highly acclaimed match. The buildup to the 2026 WrestleMania saw Punk and Rhodes interact several times, although it is still unknown if WWE plans to have them face each other.

Cody Rhodes tells ‘outside forces’ to ‘mind your own damn business’ on WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Cody Rhodes had a not-so-subtle message to the parent company of WWE on SmackDown.

During the second hour, Rhodes came to the ring, his eye still a mess after Randy Orton punted him following their WrestleMania match. Rhodes said that Orton gave him his best shot but yet he was still standing. He then said he had a message for the ‘outside forces’ who keep interfering in his WrestleMania plans. While not calling them out by name, it is likely a reference to WWE’s parent company TKO.

“The most important message I wanted to send is to those outside forces that keep interceding and interjecting into my WrestleMania plans that want to get involved in this Nightmare Family party,” he said. “I’ll make it simple: you guys are 0-3. Send your best or count your money and mind your damn business.”

Rhodes was likely referring to other WrestleMania plans that were altered in the last few years including John Cena turning heel last year and Rhodes briefly being put out of the WrestleMania 40 main event when it was initially announced that Roman Reigns would be facing The Rock.

New details on Cody Rhodes defeating Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42 | Exclusive

Posted on by Ian Carey

Backstage chaos on the Saturday of WrestleMania 42 was described as “like WCW.”

In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer addressed the decision to have Cody Rhodes defeat Randy Orton in the night one main event of WrestleMania 42 on Saturday, April 18.

Meltzer wrote that after Pat McAfee opted out of continuing with WWE, the decision not to go with Orton as champion was part of “all the chaos” taking place behind the scenes on Saturday. However, he also noted that the decision to have Rhodes win the match had been made before Saturday.

Meltzer also noted that the belief in WWE was that it wasn’t just the negativity from fans that led to McAfee opting out, but the response from WWE talent as well.

“I don’t know if he gave a reason but the belief in WWE was that he didn’t like the negativity of the fans, not the heel heat, but the negativity, plus even worse, the negativity of the angle from so much of the talent,” Meltzer wrote.

Meltzer wrote that there were WWE talent who felt Rhodes and Orton had a strong storyline dating back to Orton serving as Rhodes’ mentor in Legacy, and that McAfee and Jelly Roll being involved took away from the stronger story.

“So when (McAfee) asked out, the decision was made to go in the direction of Punk vs. Rhodes as a big match (perhaps for SummerSlam although I don’ t know that) and thus not go with Orton as champion. There were those who said the decision was part of all the chaos taking place behind-the-scenes on Saturday before the first show and the call was made the day of. However, those in the know, confirmed the chaos, even saying it was like WCW, but we were told the decision to go with Rhodes over Orton was made prior to the day of the show.”

Punk and Rhodes were involved in an angle on Raw this past Monday, teasing a possible title match between the two.

The full edition of today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter is available to subscribers.

Cody Rhodes on Dominik Mysterio’s WWE development : ‘Love the fact that Dom is training backwards’

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Cody Rhodes believes Dominik Mysterio ‘oozes charisma’ and believes his unconventional wrestling training has been beneficial for his WWE career. 

On the latest episode of his What Do You Wanna Talk About Podcast with Liv Morgan, Rhodes discussed Mysterio’s WWE career and behind the scenes personality. He talked about how Mysterio was training backwards – working the crowds for matches, understanding the psychology that goes into events and shows, but the basics of wrestling kicked in later, which is similar to how Rhodes trained. 

“It’s weird because he’ll say something so mean about Punk in the media and I’m thinking ‘Oh, all of us are, all of us babyfaces are screwed. He’s coming for us all’. And then he’ll be like ‘Oh, Cody’s really cool guy’. So, I don’t know what I did, but Dom is that one guy, he’s the one, I’m trying to think if there’s another one but Dom is the one guy at work that I feel not cool around. I’ll have a new watch or something and I’ll be like, ‘Hey Dom’ and he’s got a giant sky dweller on, which is a very nice fancy watch. He just oozes charisma.”

“And I also love the fact that Dom is training backwards. He knows psychology, he knows how to engage with fans, he knows how (to work) a live crowd. But the fundamentals have come after all of that, which is a little bit of how I was trained.”

Mysterio made his official in-ring debut in 2020. He competed as a tag team with his father, Rey Mysterio for a couple of years before joining The Judgment Day in 2022 and turned heel, a persona shift that catapulted him into a distinct character and away from his father’s shadow.

He competed in his third WrestleMania match last weekend, taking on Demon Finn Balor in a Street Fight Match. During his six-year WWE tenure, Mysterio is a two-time Intercontinental Champion, and the current AAA Mega Champion.

Cody Rhodes shares update on WWE WrestleMania 42 eye injury 

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Cody Rhodes left WWE WrestleMania 42 with his left eye swollen and almost shut following his match with Randy Orton. 

As reported by our own Dave Meltzer, Rhodes was placed in concussion protocol as a precautionary measure, with evaluations yet to be completed. There was no orbital bone fracture, the seriousness of which could have led to him being sidelined. 

Rhodes shared an update on Instagram Stories that doctors informed him he ‘won’t lose the eye’. 

‘“You won’t lose the eye…’ has to be the most positive yet absurd thing I’ve ever heard in a doctors office,” posted Rhodes.

The main event at Night One of WrestleMania 42 saw both men bloodied by the end of it. After the match, Orton delivered a Punt Kick to Rhodes out of frustration for not winning the WWE Championship. 

Rhodes appeared on the Raw after Mania with a bruised eye. He confronted CM Punk who was in an unusually upbeat mood after losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns the night before. And his mood was contradictory to what Rhodes was expecting from him. 

The segment concluded with Punk stating ‘you never know when a championship opportunity is just gonna fall out of the sky’ and looked down at Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Title. As he made his exit, Rhodes responded ‘just say when’. 

WOR: RAW after WrestleMania, Brock questions, Cody’s eye, debuts, more!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including a full recap of the RAW after WrestleMania, the very odd story of Brock Lesnar’s retirement, Cody Rhodes’ eye socket, new debuts on RAW, plus all the New Japan and ratings news and such. A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Cody Rhodes, CM Punk tease future WWE title match during Raw after WrestleMania

Posted on by Josh Nason

A future title match between reigning WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and former World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk may be on the horizon.

On Monday’s Raw after WrestleMania, Punk came out for a promo segment where he acknowledged those who had passed that were on his jacket Sunday before his match with Roman Reigns and those he had lost which included his dog, Larry, and past MMA trailer Duke Roufus.

He also talked about how he kept going when there were times he could have gone home, eaten donuts, and hung out with his hot wife like after he first lost the title after five minutes, but he put everything he had into coming back and winning it again.

He said the fans helped him get through all that and that he expected the fans to help him get through the loss of the World Heavyweight title to Roman Reigns Sunday, and that he’s not close to being done.

Rhodes then came out, sporting a black eye and the WWE title belt. He said this Punk wasn’t what he was expecting. He said he was glad Las Vegas gave him his flowers and wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do out there when he was the one looking like a beat up loser.

Punk questioned if he was supposed to feel like a loser. Rhodes said no, but Punk later said in a way that he was. He said what Rhodes is feeling is the weight of remaining the champion while he is free to do whatever. It wasn’t his night and the path for Rhodes it so keep being champion.

Punk then said his path is to stay read “because you never know when a championship opportunity is just gonna fall out of the sky.”

As Punk left, Rhodes said, “Hey, Punk? Just say when.”

The two have yet to square off during the latest run for both of them. They have two singles matches in the past: both in the last four months of 2008 and both on Raw. Punk won the first one and then Rhodes won the second via countout after just four minutes. They never crossed paths during their time in AEW.

Report: Original scrapped plans for Randy Orton at WWE WrestleMania 42

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

At WWE WrestleMania 42, Randy Orton paired up with Pat McAfee to take on Cody Rhodes; however, such was not always the plan.

According to a recent report from PWInsider, the original pitch for Randy Orton’s WWE WrestleMania 42 story involved Aleister Black. Black was originally planned to be in McAfee’s spot.

“The role would have involved Aleister Black tormenting Orton, trying to bring out the old Apex Predator version of Orton. The idea was that if Black succeeded, it would prove Orton had never changed or evolved and was still the old Orton deep inside,” the report from PWInsider read.

The report noted plans for Black and Orton to face off during WrestleMania weekend, where Orton would hesitate on the Punt Kick and likely lose. He would later attack Rhodes, using the Punt kick to revive his “Apex Predator” persona and prove Black right.

However, WWE did not move along with this story, and instead, it evolved into McAfee aligning with Orton.

WWE gives Cody Rhodes injury update following WrestleMania 42 match

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

In the main event of WWE WrestleMania 42, Cody Rhodes suffered a brutal facial injury. Now, more updates have emerged on it.

In the closing moments of the match, fans saw Randy Orton land a punch on Rhodes’ face, which immediately busted him open. Later during the WWE WrestleMania 42 post-show, it was announced that Rhodes’ left eye was swollen shut.

Joe Tessitore and Rosenberg also commented on Rhodes’ potential concussion protocol, while WWE shared a video on social media that showed medical staff tending to Rhodes.

Now, according to BodySlam+, Rhodes was busted open in multiple places, had his eye swollen shut, and needed multiple staples in his head following the WrestleMania 42 Night One main event.

WWE also stated that Rhodes was currently not medically cleared to compete due to an orbital injury. There is also no confirmed timeline update on Rhodes’ return from the injury.

After the Night One show, WWE sent an alert to ticket holders that Rhodes was pulled from all appearances planned for the convention on Sunday due to the injuries he sustained.

Later, Rhodes was spotted in public with his nasty-looking eye injury. Fans can take a look at it here (Graphic warning).

The Pat McAfee build was awful, but the WrestleMania ‘reset’ was almost worse | Opinion

Posted on by Jake Skudder

Pat McAfee being inserted into the Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton match at WrestleMania 42 was a terrible idea. It was such a terrible idea, in fact, that the company appeared to try and reset the entire angle on Saturday night by having Randy hit McAfee with an RKO in the closing stretches of the contest.

Cody Rhodes and Jelly Roll vs Randy Orton and Pat McAfee at Backlash

The plan originally appeared to be to put Cody Rhodes and Jelly Roll in a tag match against Randy Orton and Pat McAfee at Backlash next month. Our own Dave Meltzer reported that recently, and while I wouldn’t put it past WWE to pivot just to try and get one over on some reporters, I think the overall reaction to McAfee’s involvement from fans, especially how it appeared to overshadow Orton trying to go for World title number 15, meant they felt like they had to do something drastic at ‘Mania.

What was incredibly grating about the change-up wasn’t just that it appeared patently obvious on the show, it was the fact that they started a storyline and then tried to reset it at the biggest show of the year. Granted, I said previously how I felt this was WCW 2000 levels of storytelling, but if you’re going to start something then you need to end it in a satisfying way.

WWE maybe could’ve got away with this, if it was on a smaller show than WrestleMania, but Randy turning on McAfee, then punting Rhodes after the main event was a convoluted overcorrection on ESPN Unlimited’s first WrestleMania (which was already plagued by streaming issues).

You started, so you should finish

Again, I did not like how this story was built going into WrestleMania 42, but course correcting during the main event of Night 1 feels incredibly forced and a hat on a hat (or a swerve on a swerve). Was this designed to make Randy look like MORE of a heel coming out of the show? Well that didn’t work because people couldn’t wait to see him hit the Punt again. Was it a way of getting McAfee out of the way? Then why bring him in the first place if you aren’t going to pay off on the storyline? McAfee technically should be out of pro wrestling FOREVER now, if we’re going by the stipulation.

WCW 2000 levels of storytelling

They’ve booked themselves into a corner here, because we didn’t get the satisfying conclusion of Cody taking out McAfee in triumphant fashion, the heel took out the guy that was in his corner before pushing him out of the company. We now are either going to get a messy ending to McAfee’s WWE career or the stipulation will be rendered pointless because he’ll be back in a week…either way, that’s just poor storytelling.

I said it before and I’ll say it again, WWE in 2026 is not as bad as WCW in the year 2000, but storylines like this wouldn’t have felt out of place on a Nitro or Thunder at the turn of the century. Whether there are too many people trying to get involved (Ari Emanuel), someone has to take charge and just make storytelling decisions that take us from A to B in a satisfying way rather than have to throw swerves on storylines that feel like they were built by committee rather than a coherent, singular voice.