Rhodes wants to keep that fire alive.
Since making his WWE return at WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, Cody Rhodes has firmly established himself as one of the company’s top stars, if not the face of WWE. Now in his second reign as WWE Champion, it is clear that the company is fully behind ‘The American Nightmare’, though such a position naturally brings its own set of pressures and expectations.
Appearing on ALL THE SMOKE, Rhodes stated that he tries not to become a corporate version of himself despite the environment he finds himself in, as doing so would risk extinguishing the fire that drives him.
“I think everyone thought ‘WWE lifer’ and nobody knew this was always the goal until I really said it out loud and tried to will it in existence and came back to WWE. But I think a lot about it now, because now I’m often put out there as the face of the company and I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, but that’s often where I’m positioned and I’m honored by that role. But I think, is he still inside? I know that’s like a crazy thing. Is this ‘disruptor’, is he still in there? How would he approach this? How would he feel? I try everything I can to not become a corporate version of myself, even in the most corporate settings because it could be quite easy, actually. You get everything you ever want and then you gotta find it inside. Is it still lit? Is it still on fire, you know?”
-Cody Rhodes
On November 1 at Saturday Night’s Main Event, Rhodes successfully defended the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre, picking up the win after hitting the Scotsman with a DDT on the title while the referee was down.
Elsewhere during the interview, Cody confirmed reports that Seth Rollins suffered a shoulder injury during their match at Crown Jewel: Perth. You can read more about that here.
Rhodes also touched on The Rock’s ‘Final Boss’ persona during the interview, claiming that WWE have only scratched the surface with the character. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on future plans for Cody Rhodes as soon as we hear more.
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