PWInsider: Cody Rhodes Officially Re-Signs

[Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast]

I know there's a few threads on this already, mainly in AEW, but it looks to finally be pen to paper.

[häšhtå.gdālėÿ]

I’m all for the redebut just for the MOMENT and the comments, but I’d really wish he’d have fxxxing stayed away. Dude sucks. Lol

[Deleted]

I'm here for it. I've wanted Cody to be WWE Champion since 2011 so if he accomplished that goal then yeah, that'll be dope.

[Chiral]

My hopes:
Cody gets to transfer over the Codyverse in the most near 1:1 way possible, having the same batshit and bizarre segments (like pulling out actual HHH and Cena merch from under the ring instead of golden shovels and such), over the top matches, weird promos. He effectively takes the Cena spot that's been missing when Vince is like "oh my god you're just like my favorite version of John Cena. 2017 shoot promo John Cena."

He gets to hit the ground running (even if momentum's dissipated a bit without the initial shock of him leaving AEW) and becomes a hugeass must see name in WWE, with his Codyverse content that was unfitting in AEW fitting much better in WWE. He gets a world title and gets to beat Roman. He gets to influence TV in a way to push away from the house show nothing happens style to a more...Codyverse "EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING AT ONCE" style.


My expectations & worries:
Big feeling, super hype debut, then the 6 months of cooldown doing nothing Vince does for pretty much every big signing, some painful "Vince works out his eternal Turner aggressions" matches against probably Roman, the buzz wears off too quickly from WWE's house show TV style and he becomes just another guy, he does nothing memorable or of note for a long time before he's allowed to do stuff he wants and ends up with the laughing gimmick archetype.

WWE doesn't need it to work out at all, but from an entertainment standpoint they're in dire need of someone like Cody to shake everything the f*** up.

[Terry McConkey]

Good riddance. I can finally wash my hands of him.

[xxshoyuweeniexx]

I’ll at least be interested in his gimmick or what he ends up doing. I wasn’t the biggest Cody AEW guy, but throughout his career he at least puts his whole ass into whatever he’s doing..Stardust included.

Gonna be weird to see his intro without 80 people and his dog and fireworks everywhere.

[Deleted]

Now the inks dry he can attack/confront Seth on Monday, I don't think any of his themes are as iconic to get the mania surprise pop that The Hardys got. I think the days of them coming up with new music that could get the crowd to react like they did to AJ's rumble debut are in the rear view mirror.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

If somehow Cody manages to get the clout to do his own thing creatively then things are going to get weird and unpredictable very fast. Codyverse kind of became more Wait And See than a lot of WWE storylines are cynically cast as, and I don't think that would be any different in WWE if he got that freedom. But he'll be playing to a different crowd who aren't as tired of it, and maybe it works out better in WWE where everyone else is held back by a different kind of bad creative and he stands out in a positive way instead of like a sore thumb or a really bad neck tattoo

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Apparently this is a one year deal, so he's either just testing the waters and making sure he doesn't commit to WWE if he in fact, just hates what they do with him, or he's only planning to be there a year to just try something new because it wasn't working in AEW, and maybe he'll go back later

Or the other potential ending, he retires early and calls it a career. I'd think much less likely, I think he's keeping options open, but it's always a possibility

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Mar 18, 2022 20:54:44 GMT -5 @selhurst said:

Now the inks dry he can attack/confront Seth on Monday, I don't think any of his themes are as iconic to get the mania surprise pop that The Hardys got. I think the days of them coming up with new music that could get the crowd to react like they did to AJ's rumble debut are in the rear view mirror.

To be pedantic here, they didn’t react AT ALL to the music (nobody had heard it before, after all), it was the tron.

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

Mar 18, 2022 21:05:08 GMT -5 EoE: Well There's Your Problem said:

Mar 18, 2022 20:54:44 GMT -5 @selhurst said:

Now the inks dry he can attack/confront Seth on Monday, I don't think any of his themes are as iconic to get the mania surprise pop that The Hardys got. I think the days of them coming up with new music that could get the crowd to react like they did to AJ's rumble debut are in the rear view mirror.

To be pedantic here, they didn’t react AT ALL to the music (nobody had heard it before, after all), it was the tron.

Indeed, the music sucked.

I'm still surprised Cody has signed with WWE after being so frustrated with them, and during his time away they have just gotten worse in every aspect. Up to him and maybe he'll get what he wants out of it, but I can't see him staying longer than that initial year.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

BUT DOES HE HAVE A PATH TO WRESTLEMANIA!?

[rnrk supports BLM]

So, polka dots or Stardust outfit?

[Celexa Bliss 54]

Mar 18, 2022 21:30:41 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

So, polka dots or Stardust outfit?

Yes.

[Cyno]

If they let him keep Kingdom and his overblown AEW entrance, never have him and Roman Reigns in the same match. The entrances alone will take an entire Premium Live Event to complete.

[welshpenguin]

Still can’t believe it to be honest. Interested to see what happens.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Mar 18, 2022 21:34:19 GMT -5 Cyno said:

If they let him keep Kingdom

"Wrestling has exactly one royal family, and they sign my checks."

[The Rick Jericho]

Cody vs. Cena at Summerslam for the WWE title?

[polarbearpete]

Mar 18, 2022 21:03:48 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Apparently this is a one year deal, so he's either just testing the waters and making sure he doesn't commit to WWE if he in fact, just hates what they do with him, or he's only planning to be there a year to just try something new because it wasn't working in AEW, and maybe he'll go back later

Or the other potential ending, he retires early and calls it a career. I'd think much less likely, I think he's keeping options open, but it's always a possibility

Where do you see that?

[robferatu]

Mar 18, 2022 21:03:48 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Apparently this is a one year deal, so he's either just testing the waters and making sure he doesn't commit to WWE if he in fact, just hates what they do with him, or he's only planning to be there a year to just try something new because it wasn't working in AEW, and maybe he'll go back later

Or the other potential ending, he retires early and calls it a career. I'd think much less likely, I think he's keeping options open, but it's always a possibility

I think performers signing one-year deals or one-year extensions (much like Cesaro did last year) with the WWE is going to become more of the norm, especially how they handled releases during the peak of the pandemic and restructured multi-year deals.

It only seems right that the power of being a contracted talent swing in favor of the performer.

In the case of the aforementioned Cesaro, he signed an extension last year and seen nothing in terms of a sustained push changed for him so he opted to leave.

So, even though having Rhodes on the WWE roster doesn’t do anything for me and I don’t see him as a needle mover I do think it’s smart of him to only sign a one-year to as you said, “test the waters” and considering how quickly time passes by it puts pressure on the WWE to feature him strongly during that time to keep him around.