Cody Rhodes has revealed he visited WWE headquarters with the mindset of someone going in for a job interview.
Speaking on his What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, Rhodes described the preparation he undertook before heading to WWE HQ and the conversations he had with various departments during the visit.
“I wanted to go to the office to see what life would be like at the office, at WWE HQ. I had a career before as an executive vice president. I failed at it, had some success along the way but failed. Ultimately learned a great deal from said failure, as we do, that’s what we need. But I wanted to go. I said, ‘I’m going to treat it like I’m going there for a job.’ I’ll write a sample format.
I’m going to write a full tech format, times and everything. And not a dreamer one, I’ll take what we have now and put one together. I’m going to go and share that with Bruce Prichard and the creative team. And I’m going to sit with them. I’m going to meet with Lee Fitting and his team. I’m going to meet these departments. And not the, ‘Hi, I’m such and such.’ Not that. We can do that in three minutes. I’m going to actually, ‘No, what can I really do for you?’ Like, ‘Community, what can I really do for you?’ Do I fit in anywhere? Because I got the bug,” Rhodes said.
As part of his preparation, Rhodes also reached out to members of the roster to gather their creative ideas. The response varied, but podcast guest Kit Wilson stood out by sending nine full PDFs of character concepts. Rhodes described being stunned by the level of thought Wilson had invested in his own creative direction.
Rhodes served as Executive Vice President of AEW from the company’s founding until his departure in 2022. He did not specify whether any future WWE management involvement would come while he is still actively competing or as a post-retirement transition. Rhodes is currently the three-time Undisputed WWE Champion.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit What Do You Wanna Talk About? with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
