“People ask all the time, what would you tell your younger self? I wouldn't tell my younger self a damn thing. Make every mistake you can make.”
One of the best running jokes in comics centers on Batman, and, while not having any tangible superpowers, how he’d fare against werewolves, warlocks and women of wonder if given enough prep time. Preparedness, while you can’t get it from a serum or through sorcery, can absolutely take you places you’d never expect. So for Cody Rhodes, winning the WWE title at Wrestlemania XL, and headlining a PLE in his hometown, are the product of fixing things that may have been broken and finding new ways to carve out new territory.
It’s Spring, 2011. Cody’s about a month removed from having defeated Rey Mysterio at Wrestlemania XXVII in his hometown of Atlanta, GA. After losing to Rey in an untelevised match, Cody would attack him afterwards, then grab a microphone to inform the audience of his desired trajectory. “If you liked that” he’d announce disingenuously, “then you’ll love when I’m World Heavyweight Champion!”
Before that proclamation would come to fruition, he’d have to step away from WWE, even if some of the cards were in his favor. “During that period, I was projected as someone who could be a huge part of WWE's future,” the 39 year old recalls. “So there was a belief amongst the company that I could make it.”
It’s tough to pinpoint what went wrong, if anything. He’d capture the Intercontinental Championship, and hold it for the better part of a year. But the leap to the world title picture came with starts and stops, injuries, and ultimately a perceived relegation to more of a comedy role. His path to the top had eroded, and he felt it best to ply his trade elsewhere. Initially, there was admitted jealousy, feeling like he’d been denied chances others were given. Reflecting on the journey, almost ten years later, there’s a better understanding of the race he needed to run, not who was in front of, or behind him. “I learned so much from being a way of what I was just missing, flat out,” Cody admits. “All the ‘Dusty Kids’ (wrestlers trained in NXT by his father, such as Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Bayley to name a few) that I was jealous of and mad at, well, they were probably better than I was at the time. There were things that I wasn't doing correctly.”
One of the things that Cody Rhodes decided needed correcting was his presentation. Wrestlers, especially in a post-covid media world, will conduct interviews in the space provided. Sometimes, you’ll find yourself on FaceTime with them in their cars, at the gym, even at home with their families. On rare occasions, they’ll be in a meeting room at the WWE Performance Center, or a secluded office at WWE HQ.
Cody’s not one for seclusion.
He’s in one of his custom made suits, with a velvet purple backdrop, and the WWE title sitting neatly on a platform over his left shoulder. He’s thriftless. Every aspect of what we see is carefully articulated and thoroughly overstated, from the elaborate robes, the monster ballad entrance theme and the arena clearing pyro. It’s all done to make sure that the fan sitting ringside, the fan sitting almost curbside and the fan sitting at home all have the same experience. That even extends out to the WWE Champion’s progressively developed physique. “It might feel alpha, it might feel toxic, but wrestling is still a heavyweight industry,” the champion exclaims. “When you're standing across from a Drew McIntyre or a Roman Reigns, and you're suspending the disbelief of this battle, this contest, being a heavyweight has helped me considerably. At 6 '1, to try and stay genuinely around 220 (pounds) is exactly where I need to be and then continue to push it and do it in a healthy way. Now (in WWE) we have access to nutritionists, dietitians… being a heavyweight moving forward, (I’m) putting on that weight safely.”
Where the “larger than life” mantra comes naturally for Cody Rhodes, the other large lesson he’s picked up almost stands in direct conflict with the champions of yesteryear. Some of wrestling’s biggest stars always made it a point to give you everything in their promos and vignettes, then just enough once the bell rang. But Cody’s time spent away from WWE let him know that when he returned, he’d have to show that his changes weren’t just superficial. You can’t spend as much time as he did around The Elite and not pick up a few new tricks. So when you see a top rope Cody Cutter, or him taking a suplex from the ring to the floor, it’s to make sure he separates himself from the champions before him.
“Everything that (trainer and ECW legend) Al Snow taught me, 99.9% of traditional wrestling, my father, and how we long form plan things out, how we lead the audience, all that. There's greatness, and what's old can be new again, but also the game is speeding up,” Cody acknowledges. “I’m not just saying pop off high spots for the sake of high spots. You want to make them matter. But for me, it became taking a risk… You can't play it safe. You hear old timers, ‘Oh, you got to conserve your body.’ For what? We don't get to do this when we're 80. We get to do it now.”
The “now”, the understanding of the role of WWE Champion was immediate for Cody Rhodes. After defeating Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania XL, he’d celebrate with friends and family in the ring, do WWE’s post show press conference, then immediately gather his things and make his way up I-78 for his first appearance as champion on ‘The Today Show’.
The victory party would be memorable but brief, sharing champagne toasts with longtime friend Michael Cole, and getting more acquainted with Pat McAfee while discussing ‘College Gameday’. That desire to keep going, to make the shows, appearances, to be the front-facing workhorse was ingrained into him at an early age.
“The best thing I can compare it to is if you win a major election,” Cody says. “The next day you go to work. The next day, policy goes into effect. My mom will say this always, ‘You're only as good as your last outing.’ So Wrestlemania XL, that was my last outing until the next night.”
It’s not just a familial mantra. While he was pushed from a young age to find that extra, to continue to strive towards his larger goals, it was a professional example that gave us the Cody Rhodes we’ve seen as champion. “I modeled a lot of my career after the man who was the lead dog when I was here initially, and that being John Cena.”
Cena set a new standard for the expectations of a WWE Champion. For over a decade, his sole focus was carrying the company banner. Every televised event, every house show, every PR appearance, he was there. He famously broke the record for most wishes granted through the Make-A-Wish foundation. But maybe more than anything, he’d make it clear that the way he went about his business, the way he made WWE his everything, would be the level others would have to aspire to if they wanted his spot. “‘Hey, if you want the spot, if you want the ball, you have to work to my level’, was something you'd hear him say in interviews, and it was very real, very,” Cody says admiringly. “And there was nobody who could match it at the time. In terms of being WWE champion, you have to represent WWE at all times.”
His next chance to represent comes in a familiar locale, his hometown of Atlanta at WWE’s Bad Blood PLE. It’s doubly impactful – Atlanta’s not just where he grew up, but where he saw the greats of his childhood quite literally create their paths to greatness.
“When you're the one in the ring in your home, where you grew up, I mean, literally, the train tracks that you would go over to get to The Omni backstage are the same train tracks that you go over to get to State Farm backstage,” he remembers. “The same spot I watch Sting and watch Dusty walk and all the fans see them and then have that moment, I get to walk that… You try to make every town your town as WWE champion, but there are those places you grew up. There are those places that informed you and created you.”
It’s no secret that the largest influence on Cody’s desire to be great comes from his father, WWE legend and all-time entertainer, Dusty Rhodes. But now Cody’s in rare air: he’s captured the title his father never did, and while the comparisons will always exist between them, he’s finding ways to carve out his own identity. While he’s made it clear that his calling has more than one royal family, it’s another he identifies with when he reflects on his success.
“In Return of the King, Théoden dies heroically in battle,” Cody muses. “I remember he says this spiel about how he can go to his father and his father's father unashamed. For me, I have woke up every day chasing the Ghost. Chasing the Ghost as a performer and a competitor. I have never had a problem internally saying, I want to be better. The most important thing, though, that he did in terms of me trying to be better, and it is the most uphill battle for me, is he was a superb father. He basically didn't work so that he could watch me amateur wrestle. I get up every morning when I say chasing the ghost, it's not negative, it's a positive. I know how far ahead he is, and I know there's still things that I could do to say, ‘I got you.’”
Cody’s spending time at WWE HQ, greeting the behind the scenes workers, watching the brass plot out future events like WWE’s presence at ComplexCon. He’s even got a team meeting with him regularly to make sure everything in his presentation is perfect. “Every week, there's a little meeting on my bus, talent relations individual, somebody from photo, somebody from digital, all right there to write out where I need to be, where the champ needs to go, where the belt needs to be,” he reveals excitedly. “It's just a really rewarding time. It's what I always wanted.“
He admittedly used to overextend himself, trying to serve as both performer and management during his AEW tenure. Now, his professional focus is solely on Cody Rhodes, WWE Champion. So the wrench thrown in as he’ll team with his greatest rival, Roman Reigns, against the latest iteration of The Bloodline, isn’t one he’s too keen on. Having successfully defended his WWE Championship all summer against the likes of Kevin Owens and AJ Styles, having to deal with the fallout from his Wrestlemania and having to count on someone who’s done so much to slow his success would wear on anyone.
But for someone so entrenched in the history of wrestling, he understands the significance of The Bloodline, and how significant it would be to put the final nail in its coffin. “If anything, maybe my job is just to be the one who beats them,” the American Nightmare declares.”It's one of the greatest sagas in the history of not just pro-wrestling and sports entertainment and entertainment in general. If I get to be the guy who came in and beat them, gosh, I know that sounds. It might sound a little aggressive, but certainly it's family business until they involve me.”
Being the top guy is an ongoing, enduring balancing act, but it’s no longer just what Cody Rhodes always wanted. Now, it’s the role he’s prepared for.