Cody Rhodes thinks he ‘failed’ as AEW EVP, interested in WWE management role
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.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.