Top WWE Star Says Next Deal Will Be His Last As A Full-Time Wrestler

This major star has just revealed his potential retirement status.

Cody Rhodes is currently the golden boy in WWE.

He won the WWE Championship back by defeating Drew McIntyre on SmackDown last Friday and is right back on top of the mountain. His next task will be main-eventing night one of WrestleMania 42, where he will face Elimination Chamber winner Randy Orton for the WWE title, a match that has been teased by WWE for years but hasn’t yet happened.

Rhodes seems to be in top shape, and his athleticism is in full gear. Chris Van Vliet asked Rhodes on Insight recently how long he wishes to wrestle. Rhodes’ answer to this question was simple.

WWE Champion Cody Rhodes Says The Next Deal He Signs Will Be His Last

The American Nightmare is a second-generation star in WWE. He is the son of WWE Legend the late Dusty Rhodes.

He has assumed many wrestling gimmicks in the past, most notably Stardust, which was a spin on his real-life half-brother’s famous character Goldust.

Now at the top of his game and having achieved heights of success, Rhodes says that he will call it a day after his next deal.  He says that he can tell himself that he’s doing it for his kids or someone else, but in reality, it’s actually for himself.

I don’t have a number on it anymore. I know that the next deal I do will be my last as far as a full-time wrestler.

Sometimes, when you take things, and I think I’m doing this right now, and you use them to your advantage where you’re like, I need to do this for this, but really it might be for you. We talked about Liberty earlier. She’s known nothing but WrestleMania main events. She literally thinks what I do for a living is WrestleMania. That’s what I do for a living. Leilani is only six months old, so in my mind, I owe her a few more of these. That’s silly. That’s me doing it for me, or maybe it is a little bit of both.

I’ll know, and you know who else will know? The audience. They’ll know. I don’t even know if the kids say this anymore, washed. I’ll know, because your mind is your greatest asset as a pro wrestler.

He went on to talk about how his father made a statement in commentary, saying that it struck him hard, and it was about Hollywood Hulk Hogan.

I was a big Hogan fan through every era, but if you look back at Hogan in black and white, Hollywood Hogan, a master just up here in terms of the psychology of a live audience and what they came to play with and my dad said something on commentary once that absolutely pulled my heart into my stomach. It just hit me so hard.

But he was talking about Hogan, and this is the middle of deep kayfabe. He’s talking about Hogan, he said, ‘No man has captured the imagination of the audience like that guy.’ I thought that’s what I want to do. They came here for something, and if they’re booing, they came here to boo. If they’re cheering, they came here. I want to capture their imagination the best I can, and you can when you have the experience I have.

Cody then looks back at the chips on his shoulder and looks ahead to tackle the next opponent on his immediate path forward.

And again, got to wrestle my angel on my shoulder last year, and John Cena gets to wrestle the devil on my shoulder this year in Randy Orton. If I can’t do anything with that, well then I’m a real dick. You know what I’m saying? I’m sorry, if I can’t do anything with that, then I’m selfish, then I’m not here to give back to the industry, so I need to do that as well. But you’ll know, you’ll know.”

Also read: WWE Stars Reportedly Unhappy With 8-Time Champion’s Sudden Departure