Cody Rhodes has signed a multi-year contract with WWE.
As noted, Night One of WrestleMania 38 saw Rhodes make his return to WWE after being away for 6 years. The storyline behind the return is that Rhodes was hand-picked by WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon to be Seth Rollins’ opponent. After a hard-fought back & forth bout, Rhodes got the win clean. You can click here for our original report with photos and videos from the match, and you can click here for Cody’s new Variety interview where he discusses returning to WWE and leaving AEW.
In an update, Rhodes’ team issued a press release after his WrestleMania return and confirmed that he is signed to a new multi-year deal with WWE. Cody’s team consists of the Hyperion Talent Agency, the Spanos Law firm, and the Vision PR firm.
The press release also revealed that Rhodes is serving as the Executive Producer to A&E’s “Biography: WWE Legends” documentary on his father, WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes. The doc was mentioned in the earlier Variety interview, but the release from Rhodes’ team has confirmed that he will be the Executive Producer.
The release also included the following blurb on Rhodes’ return and career. It’s interesting to note that there is no direct mention of AEW, but they do acknowledge that he is a three-time TNT Champion. The return press release was not issued by WWE, but it’s possible they had a chance to approve it before it went out. Rhodes’ team issued the following:
The most sought-after free agent in professional wrestling, “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, has landed back at WWE, the company where he began his career. Saturday night, in front of a massive crowd at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Rhodes returned in a main event match with multi-time former WWE Champion Seth Rollins. Rhodes has inked a multi-year deal with the company.
Rhodes began his wrestling career with WWE developmental territory OVW and went on to compete with WWE for a decade before his departure in 2016. Over the past six years, Rhodes has wrestled all over the world including in Japan, England, Mexico, and Canada. In 2018, Rhodes was named Wrestler of the Year by Sports Illustrated. During his first run with WWE, Rhodes became a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion and won six tag team championships (three World Tag Team Championships and three WWE Tag Team Championships). During his time away from WWE, Rhodes won many top championships including the Ring of Honor World Champion, IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion, and most recently the TNT Championship on three separate occasions. His father, the legendary “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, is a WWE Hall of Famer and both Cody and Dusty won NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship titles making them the first father/son combination to win the title.
Stay tuned for more on Rhodes’ return to WWE. Below are a few more photos from WrestleMania Saturday, along with clips from the return:
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