Cody Rhodes opens up about why he did not appear in the WWE 2K22 video game.
The American Nightmare returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38, a shocking move following his accomplishments elsewhere, specifically AEW. Rhodes’ return coincided with the release of WWE 2K22, but he never appeared as a playable character. He tells Comicbook.com that was more on him than the game developers.
I’m very hands on, I will even go as far as saying, I wouldn’t put the heat on 2K in me not being in the game initially and then waiting until the modern iteration of it to happen. The reason being, I’m very particular about the American Nightmare, the whole concept of it. It’s something I built while I was away and until you know people are going to fully immerse themselves in it, they are familiar with it, they respect it, and they only want to further give it a signal boost like 2K can do, it just takes time. I was one of the reasons why it took so much time.
The 2023 Royal Rumble winner later adds that he is quite petty about his game rating, and wanted to make sure he wasn’t valued lower than he thought he should have been.
If anybody had any problem, it was more me than it was 2K in the sense that I wanted to make sure it was done correctly. I’m also super petty about ‘what’s my number [rating]?’ Super petty. I’m always on my guard and some of these people were working here when I was Stardust, and I know from the cannon of it all, Stardust was a big loser. You’re already ready to fight. ‘I hope they know it’s a different me.’ Most of this crew is more than aware of that and they’ve seen what has happened in our industry. I’m very hands on with it all, which is why it may have taken longer.
Rhodes is a playable character in WWE 2K23, which featured John Cena on the cover. Rhodes compliments the Cenation leader on the honor before revealing his desire to one day be on the cover of a WWE video game.
I also know that they know, it’s a big personal goal of mine to earn my way onto the cover. I don’t know when that will happen, hopefully within my contract time here in WWE. Cena getting the nod this year, is no doubt, more than earned it. We now have a larger appreciation for who John was and what John did, for as long as he did. It’s definitely one of my goals, the cover and a true cover. Not an exclusive, not a collector’s edition. A true cover. That’s a journey itself, a huge milestone.
Rhodes will be appearing on tomorrow’s edition of SmackDown
to continue his feud with Brock Lesnar.(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)