Cody Rhodes has framed his sustained top-spot WWE run as an addiction, telling WWE’s YouTube channel that he is addicted to the top spot and that he has deliberately modeled his career after John Cena’s consistent week-to-week main-event-tier presence.
Rhodes defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against GUNTHER at Clash in Italy on May 31 at the Inalpi Arena in Turin. The match is one of two bouts confirmed to air during the first ESPN free hour of the broadcast, with Rhea Ripley vs Jade Cargill for the Women’s World Championship also on the ESPN simulcast.
“There’s always a flavor of the month, right? There’s always some hot new thing and good for it. That’s exciting when the crowd can get behind something or something new shows up. But all my faves, all the QB1s before me, were consistent. They were a week in and week out, and now there’s all these jokes about how I’ve really tried to follow the John Cena model, and I don’t mind those jokes at all, because that’s a hell of a model, and I think most people run from it because it means work. I’m addicted to the top spot. I’m not afraid to tell anybody that.”
Rhodes credited multiple wrestlers in the same interview for forcing him out of his comfort zone. He named Sami Zayn, CM Punk, and Ricky Saints among the wrestlers who have challenged him during his sustained top-of-card run.
Rhodes’ 2026 has included multiple championship-tier programs. He had to fight to win back the Undisputed WWE Championship after losing it to Drew McIntyre, then defended the title against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42 in a match that left him bloodied due to a Pat McAfee-assisted Orton attack.
GUNTHER has emerged as the toss-up opponent of the card, with the BetOnline betting odds having both wrestlers at -120 in a virtual dead heat. The veteran side reads have split on the match outcome, with Jim Ross and Matt Hardy picking GUNTHER, while JBL and Eric Bischoff have argued for the Rhodes retention with a future GUNTHER title win.
Clash in Italy airs from the Inalpi Arena in Turin at 2 PM EST / 1 PM CST on Sunday. The first hour airs on ESPN, with the full broadcast available on ESPN Unlimited in the US and Netflix internationally.
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