Cody Rhodes explains why he misses old WWE house show schedule so much
Cody Rhodes really wishes WWE still ran a more extensive house show schedule.
The former WWE Champion has been vocal about this topic in the past, and he got into it again on a new episode of his “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast. Rhodes explained that he thinks the house show schedule kept wrestlers in rhythm and might have actually prevented injuries due to keeping performers sharp. Along with that, being on the road with each other helped everyone feel like a team. Rhodes believes that, when you’re only around each other once or twice per week, it’s hard to have that same camaraderie.
“I’ve said it on this podcast, and I know it gets me in trouble with my peers — and I don’t care. I miss them so much,” Rhodes said. “I miss the live events for the rhythm of wrestling. I feel like it helped actually prevent injuries. I feel like it helped a general just — not just the camaraderie, but the other thing is being part of the team. If you’re only here once or twice a week, it doesn’t feel like — what team are you on? Versus, ‘No, this is our crew. We run. We run Saturday. We run Sunday.’
“And I know it’s a different time, and the way the company works, it has its own difficulties and challenges today that are different, but I miss it. And I miss, it was those things. Just, ‘Try this.’ ‘Hey, did you hear that?’ It’s literally things that you could not put in a lab and replicate. Just a general excited fan. I miss it. But maybe it was a moment in time. I don’t know.”
The Undertaker was Rhodes’ guest on this “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” episode, and he agreed that more live events would be a good thing for talent. But Undertaker admits that the old schedule was too much of a grind and a better balance would need to be found.
“I get trying to protect your talent, but I also agree with you that not working does maybe lead to — because iron sharpens iron sometimes,” Undertaker said. “And again, I don’t think we need to grind like we did, but I don’t think you need not to do live events.”
WWE does still run some house shows, but they are no longer an every weekend occurrence. The live events instead happen on specialized tours like the company’s recent Holiday Tour and trip to Europe.
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.