8 Booking Steps For Cody Rhodes In WWE
Cody Rhodes' WWE debut, first feud, WrestleMania moment, AEW references and more.
Cody is coming.
Money talks, and it's reportedly why Rhodes will become the first major jump from AEW > WWE since Tony Khan's company burst onto the wrestling scene in 2019. Nobody could've predicted this at the turn of the year, but Cody is about to rake in some serious cash and enjoy a much more fruitful run under Vince McMahon's umbrella than he did the first time around.
Whilst WWE won't bring back the flimsy Stardust character, they definitely will treat Rhodes like the second coming (at least for a while). McMahon will regard this as a huge coup in the current marketplace - Vince will also probably tout the fact that he's nabbed a top AEW star to investors during the next quarterly call.
All of that will be fun for WWE, but... it's the actual TV booking that fans care about.
How does Cody debut? When does he debut? Who should his first match be against? Which title does he win first? What are his WrestleMania 38 plans? Or, does he return shortly after that Dallas weekender? There are so many questions. Here, laid out in full, are the answers...
8. The Tease
Never underestimate the power of the pro wrestling tease.
Vince McMahon might shout from rooftops about "sports entertainment", but WWE still plays by old-school wrasslin' rules sometimes. That's why, before Cody Rhodes ever shows up in person, they'll have some "Coming Soon" graphics and a few vignettes ready to go.
This is important because it'll set the tone for what Cody 2K22 represents to the promotion's landscape. He's likely to get cheered, if only because fans will be thrilled to see a fresh face and due to his prior history with WWE - that could fit in snugly with some sort of antihero character.
Rhodes' first promo back on WWE telly is going to be massive, so laying the groundwork for that by dropping hints about what he might say during vignettes is the way to go. Showing everything, from his earliest days to the flopped Stardust debacle, would be wise.
There's a lot of ground to cover here, and the E's production team is the best at doing that.