Cody Rhodes Defends WWE’s Relationship With Saudi Arabia

Cody Rhodes has had his say on WWE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia.

The deal between Saudi Arabia and WWE continues to draw a huge amount of criticism given Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record, treatment of the LGBTQ community, allegations of sportswashing, and political tension stemming from the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

These issues came back into the spotlight in the days ahead of Night of Champions as the political tension in the Middle East continued to escalate. This led to calls on social media for WWE to postpone the event and refuse to take its staff to Saudi Arabia.

However, the company remained unmoved, and the event went ahead as planned.

Cody Rhodes Calls Out “Gotcha” Culture

During a new interview with the Boston Herald, Rhodes said there’s a “gotcha culture” around politics, but WWE’s business is bringing people together.

“I don’t want to be negative, but I will say there is this whole ‘gotcha culture’ over who is a Democrat, who is a Republican, who is a moderate, and who people support. None of these things really should be anybody’s business – because our business is going where our show goes, which is all over the world, and hopefully bringing people together.”

Rhodes added that WWE isn’t aligned with any political party or ideology, and he was honored to perform in Saudi Arabia.

“WWE is a non-partisan brand. We go where the show goes,” he stated. “One of the biggest eye-opening moments when you go to Saudi Arabia with WWE is when you look out at the fans… there is such a similarity between those who are hungry for WWE back home and those who are hungry for it in Europe and those who are so hungry for it all over the world. I feel so honored, especially in tumultuous times, to be able to go.”

At Night of Champions, Cody Rhodes defeated Randy Orton to win the King of the Ring tournament. The victory earned Rhodes a WrestleMania rematch with John Cena at SummerSlam for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

For Orton, it was the second-straight year that he lost in the finals of the tournament after being beaten by Gunther in 2024.