Cody Rhodes Recalls A “Big Miss” In His Career
Cody Rhodes has recalled a time in his career outside of WWE that he would consider a “big miss.”
It has been an incredible 2023 for Cody Rhodes in WWE as a main eventer who headlined WrestleMania 39 as well as the top merchandise mover in the company. While Cody isn’t a champion in WWE right now, he is unquestionably one of the biggest stars in the promotion.
This is Cody’s second run in WWE because he chose to leave the company in 2016 after spending about a decade there. Cody was frustrated about his spot since he was stuck in a rut as the Stardust character and it didn’t seem like management was going to give him a big push he felt he had earned.
While outside of WWE, Cody became a top star all around the world wrestling in the independents. He won championships in places like Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, he wrestled for NJPW and all over the world. That would lead to a close friendship with The Elite’s Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (The Young Bucks) along with Kenny Omega and others.
In January 2019, Cody Rhodes was one of the founders of All Elite Wrestling and became an Executive Vice President of the company. That run lasted for about three years before he became a free agent in 2022 and decided to return to WWE again.
Cody Rhodes thinks the days with two mascots in bear costumes were a “big miss” in his career
During an interview with NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr on Dale Jr Download, Cody Rhodes spoke about the time when he was out of WWE and able to do what he wanted. That included having two guys dressed in bear mascots at some of his appearances.
“Whether right, wrong or indifferent, I was doing it my way. There are a lot of incidents in that run that are not right. ‘This is what we’re doing here folks, this is it.’ I tell people all the time, if you want to to look at what letting someone…sometimes I get in my own way when it comes to my own creative.”
“There is a prime example; when I was in Ring of Honor, they just let me do whatever. ‘WWE guy, people are coming to see him, they were smaller crowds, big autograph line.’ One of the things I did was, I had two mascots, they were people in bear suits. It didn’t make a lick of sense and they’d be at the signing, standing with me, one was a business bear, one was a drug free bear.”
“It was all this non-sensical, it stemmed off a YouTube series [Being The Elite], it had roots, but if I look at the photos and you see me with these two bears, that’s what creative freedom gone too far looks like. I loved it, but very much, even my time at AEW as the Executive Vice President, also in my way a little bit. Someone else make a decision for me here because at that point, I made all these decisions and was doing it my way. You need guidance and you need those people who have been there and done it. I had some big home runs and some big misses.”
As for his current in WWE run, Cody Rhodes wasn’t on last week’s Raw although he did appear for the live crowd after the show. Cody will return to Raw TV this coming Monday.