Cody Rhodes has reportedly signed with WWE

Cody Rhodes reportedly signed with WWE via Mike Johnson of PWInsider (h / t Wrestling Inc.). According to the report, the contract was signed 10-14 days ago and is expected to appear on the Raw mark.

Rhodes is rumored to have a WrestleMania match against Rollins. Rollins (the character) desperately deserves a place at WrestleMania, but behind the scenes, WWE kept hoping they could make a deal with Rhodes in time for a WrestleMania program against Seth “Freakin” Rollins. Monday night on Raw, Rollins lost a major event match against Kevin Owens for his spot at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, Texas.

Cody and Brandi Rhodes shocked the wrestling world on February 15 when they announced they were leaving AEW. Although they regularly appear on AEW programming, in addition to being involved with WarnerMedia Properties’ “Go Big Show” and “Rhodes to the Top,” Rhodes made a quick exit that surprised many.

Cody Rhodes and AEW President Tony Khan reportedly took a hit when it came to pay issues, and their relationship was compromised by Rhodes’ reported loss of booking power.

Rhodes’ AEW exit is incredibly similar to his WWE departure, when he abruptly left the company in May 2016 after feeling overwhelmed and inferior. Similar to his AEW exit, Rhodes announced the news in a heartfelt post on Twitter, though his comments against WWE at the time were far less friendly than those of his AEW divorce.

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“I had every writer on staff as a door-to-door salesperson respond to ‘how’ & ‘why’ & ‘when’?” The former Stardust said in an exasperated 2016 tweet explaining his departure.

“Believe me, there are a lot of those who have tried to help me (Brian James, Nick, Faz, J Russo, Dave K, JBL & Cole to get me on their YouTube show and a few others I’m sure) but for all that, both “head writers” of RAW & Smackdown (one pretending to be Brian Gewirtz and the other too busy hitting development divas) continued to not return my pitch or emails, and in face-to-face Faces have tried to make me through big leagues as if they were on their clearly powered laptops? [sic]”

Now leaving the company he helped as the strange man to find among the executive vice presidents, Rhodes finds himself once again in a position with something to prove to the wrestling world. The last time he found himself in a similar position in 2016, it eventually led to the historic All In Pay-per-View in 2018, and the creation of AEW the following year.

As the first AEW-to-WWE defect, and AEW’s first big star to jump on WWE, Rhodes’ signature will be a fascinating case study as an AEW talent is portrayed on WWE television. With Rhodes essentially falling into WWE’s lap, this case study will come much earlier than the 2024 time frame where top stars like MJF are looking for new dealers.

All signs indicate that Rhodes is favorably booked in the WWE. There is an endless list of WWE superstars who could make even bigger stars elsewhere – be it Hulk Hogan, Drew McIntyre or even Brock Lesnar, to name a few. Most of them deserved Vince McMahon’s respect, and were welcomed back to WWE with open arms, no matter how sharply they left the company.

Promoting Rhodes as a big star in WWE would also be a positive sign for AEW’s potential free agents. Not only would these free agents seek to replicate Rhodes’ worthy success in the WWE, but they could also make more money with WWE from their first billion years. In addition, by 2024, WWE will theoretically receive a television rights increase from a major broadcast network or streaming service – if not sold in total – which will give the industry leader even more funds to inspire free agents.

The Rhodes deal may or may not reverse the salary structure in WWE, which would be a welcome change based on the amount of money WWE makes compared to what it pays its superstars. Last year, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h / t Wrestling Inc) reported top stars Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns were the highest paid WWE superstars with a salary of $ 5 million per year.

By comparison, the NFL, NBA, and MLB all pay their players about 50% of league revenue. With WWE reporting $ 1.095 billion in revenue in 2021, if it paid all of its contracted talent to the top tier a top-tier $ 5 million salary (they are not), that would still be only 40% of revenue for WWE talent represent. There’s a lot of uncertainty about who does what in WWE, but the actual percentage of wrestlers’ salaries compared to WWE’s income is far, far lower.

Cody Rhodes in WWE during the WrestleMania season allowed the promotion to capitalize on arguably the greatest Wrestling News story to date during his busy season of the year. With AEW dominating buzz and momentum through a handful of high-profile signings of late, everything will take a big fish – whether it’s Cody, Steve Austin or both – to grab WWE’s momentum back in its favor.