Cody Rhodes has two fresh matches on his list.
Rhodes previously worked for WWE earlier in his career, as he came up through the developmental system. He was a featured member of the main roster for several years until he left the company in 2016 following his requested release. Rhodes competed for ROH, NJPW, and other companies before he helped launch AEW. He was one of the faces of the company until he left AEW in February 2022. Rhodes returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38, but a torn pectoral muscle sidelined him for several months. He made his in-ring return at WWE Royal Rumble 2023 and won the men's battle royal to earn a world title match at WrestleMania 39.
Speaking on The AJ Awesome Show, Rhodes was asked to name two potential opponents he'd like to face after WrestleMania, where he will challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. He responded by making it clear that he didn't want to overlook his match against Reigns. However, for the purpose of the question, he named Johnny Gargano and Edge as two opponents he's interested in sharing the ring with. Rhodes recalled indirectly battling Gargano during the Wednesday Night War between WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite. He then stated that he wants to test himself against the former NXT Champion.
“If I was to be so, A., on my game, in the right spot at the right time, lighting striking, legit lightning in a bottle to be able to be the one guy who does beat Roman, because you gotta remember, Daniel Bryan and Edge couldn’t beat Roman at the same time. Kevin Owens, unable to do it. Sami, so, so close. Drew, Drew was almost closer than Sami was. If I was to be so lucky as to be the one to beat him, don’t want to look past him, but for the purposes of your question, there’s a couple. There’s three guys. We talked about one guy already, so we won’t even mention him. But two come to mind. One is [Gargano], and that’s because when I was with my former company, I always remembered kind of going head-to-head with him on Wednesdays. When I say that, out of respect, you had to oppose him with something strong because he delivers, and he’s a wrestler’s wrestler. He’s something that we’ve never had that singles [match], and I’d love to have that with him, just to see where I’m at, see where he’s at. Very curious, different styles. So that’s one," Rhodes said.
Rhodes went on to describe how he wants to face Edge, and while he doesn't know how much time the Hall of Famer has left in his in-ring career, he wants to work with him. Rhodes looked back on the way Edge was a good locker room leader when they were on the same roster during his initial WWE run, and he remembered the way Edge looked at him like a kid. With that in mind, Rhodes stated that he wanted to show Edge that he's not a child anymore.
"The other one is Edge. I’ve told some people that before. I don’t think I’ve told Edge that because I don’t want to seem adversarial or confrontational. But I don’t know how much time Edge has left. He could do this forever if he wanted to. He’s in better shape than every locker room combined for some reason. But when I was on SmackDown, I remember was a really good locker room leader, a true locker room leader, would he able to pull you aside for a note here and there but wasn’t overbearing. But he looked at me as a child, a kid. Those people who look at you as a kid, you want to one day stand opposed and let them know you’re not a kid anymore. Lately we’ve been on the right side of things, for example with The Judgment Day and stuff, but he’s still one I’d love to just test it out, shake his hand and then find out who’s better at the actual wrestling that we do. Hall of Famer, he’s the real deal. He’s in that lofty air that very few are in. While he’s here, and he could be here forever, but while he’s here, I’d like to get that one," Rhodes said.
AJ then brought up a potential match between Rhodes and Lashley. Rhodes noted that he and Lashley have never faced off, aside from a brief encounter that didn't lead to a match when they were both in IMPACT. He noted that he was interested in their clash of styles, and he stated that it would be a good match.
“It would be [interesting]. Bobby and I have, I wanna say never mixed it up, outside of a really brief thing at IMPACT that didn’t lead to an actual match. Maybe that’s all for the better because here it would be fresh and new. Also, I’m off in the oddball style, where my style is a hybrid style of wrestling, a little new, a little old. Bobby is really unorthodox, in terms of how quick he is, his combat sports experience, his size that doesn’t match the quickness. It’s like a bear. Bobby would be a tough task, and especially in the company that Bobby keeps, I feel like they kind of continue to bolster him, as we see that develop. But that would be a very good match. I’d be all about wrestling Bobby Lashley. That’s one of those ones too where I feel almost a little self-conscious because I still like bodybuilding, and the classic [idea of] wrestlers with muscles and stuff. I feel like I look pretty good. That’s one of those guys you stand across from and you’re like, alright, I look okay. This guy looks amazing because that guy’s just with it all the time, dialed in. It’s a good match," Rhodes said.
Rhodes will appear on the March 3 episode of WWE SmackDown. More information is available here.
Check out Gunther's comments on a potential match against Rhodes here.
Kenny Omega recently praised Rhodes for the job he did as an AEW EVP. Click here to see what he had to say.
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