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Triple H Officially Confirms Cody Rhodes’ WWE Future

By John Canton • Published May 16, 2026 10:14 EDT
Triple H Cody Rhodes WWE
Triple H and Cody Rhodes - Image via WWE.com

Triple H has commented on a big title match for the WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes.

The Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes had a rare PLE break at Backlash earlier this month, in part because he had a nasty black eye at WrestleMania 42 three weeks earlier.

After defeating Ricky Saints on the May 1st edition of SmackDown, Cody Rhodes was brutally attacked by Gunther, who was still on the Raw roster at the time.

It was later revealed that Gunther attacked Rhodes because he was promised an Undisputed WWE Title match against Rhodes, just as long as Gunther signed a deal to join SmackDown.

On WWE SmackDown in Columbia, Cody Rhodes set up a table and chairs in the ring so that Gunther could sign the contract to join SmackDown and get the WWE Title match at Clash in Italy on May 31st.

When Gunther arrived, he didn’t like how Cody was dictating the terms and making the deal all about himself. That led to Royce Keys interrupting the proceedings by saying, if Gunther doesn’t want to sign it, then he will. Gunter didn’t like that, so SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis booked a Gunther-Keys match. Whoever won that match would get the WWE Title match at Clash In Italy.

In the SmackDown main event, Gunther and Keys had a competitive match. Solo Sikoa tried to help his buddy Keys, but Keys didn’t want the help and threw a chair at Solo. Gunther hit a Powerbomb to get the win.

After the match, Gunther spoke into the camera about how there’s nothing Cody can do. That led Cody to grab Gunther from behind and hit a Cross Rhodes on him. Cody welcomed Gunther to SmackDown. The WWE Champion Rhodes stood tall to end the show.

In a social media post, WWE’s Chief Content Officer, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, confirmed the Clash in Italy match between Rhodes and Gunther by saying it would make history.

The reason it’s a history-making match is that it’s the first WWE PLE in Italy.

Cody Rhodes Thinking About WWE Future

Triple H is a WWE Hall of Famer who held the WWE World Championship 14 times in his legendary career. In his later years in wrestling, Triple H took on a behind-the-scenes role and eventually became the man in charge. Cody Rhodes is a 3-time WWE Champion who could succeed Triple H one day in a behind-the-scenes role in WWE.

Cody Rhodes recently talked about visiting WWE headquarters and thinking about his future after he is done wrestling, which is a smart move for someone who is 40 years old and has spent two decades in the ring.

“So 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, but I had some success along the way, learned a great deal from said failure—that’s what we need.

I wanted to go, ‘Man, I’m gonna treat it like I’m going there for a job.’ I’ll write a sample format, I’m gonna write full tech format, times and everything. Not a dreamer one, I’ll take what we have now and put one together.”

Rhodes said he met with WWE executives such as Lee Fitting and Bruce Prichard, who are key figures in WWE’s daily operations.

“I’m gonna go and share that with Bruce Prichard and the creative team, and I’m gonna sit with them, and I’m gonna go to CPG, meet with Lee Fitting and his team. Meet these departments—not the ‘hi, I’m such and such.’ We can do that in three minutes. I’m gonna actually know what can I really do for you? Do I fit in anywhere?

I got the bug. I didn’t wanna be unprepared, because if you came to me as a wrestler unprepared, I’d kick back and look for things to kick back on.

So in that setting, I reached out to as many people as I could on the roster and I said, ‘What’s an idea for you? What’s something you wanna do?’ Some people called me—‘I got this.’ Some didn’t reply, some sent a nice little text with a perfect little simplified note.

And I thought, okay, I’m ready if Ed or someone asked a good question. I didn’t wanna waste their time.”

A job behind the scenes is more of a distant future for Cody Rhodes. The immediate future is at Clash in Italy, against Gunther, in two weeks’ time on Sunday, May 31st.

Also Read: Cody Rhodes Names THIS WWE Star As Dream Opponent: “The Likelihood Of It Happening, Who Knows?”