Cody Rhodes hasn’t participated in a G-1 tournament, or tournament of any kind for that matter, since arriving in NJPW in early 2017. His first match for the promotion was at Wrestle Kingdom 11 when he defeated Juice Robinson inside the Tokyo Dome. He did the same thing at Fighting Spirit Unleashed but an undaunted Juice recently challenged Cody to a third match as well.
Cody’s contract with Ring of Honor is said to be up and he doesn’t have a deal in place with NJPW. He’s always competed for NJPW as part of their talent-sharing agreement with ROH. As he heads to free agency, however, Cody appears motivated to stay with NJPW despite potentially leaving ROH.
“Cody outright said that he wants to work more New Japan in 2019,” Dave Meltzer wrote. Although Meltzer doesn’t list his source, the report reads as though he was talking directly to Cody.
“He’s already said doing a G-1 is something he wants to do, but last year his filming “Arrow” made that impossible,” Meltzer continued. “But he wants to do more than just the big shows like he did in 2018 with the idea that he wants to improve as a wrestler, and you want to improve as a wrestler, New Japan is the place to work.”
It sounds as though Cody wanted to send a message to NJPW management through the Observer but that is only speculation.
Where is Cody Going To Wrestle In 2019?
If Cody is saying he wants to wrestle in NJPW next year, he’s not going to WWE, although he has already stated as much. It’s likely he’s not happy with contract negotiations with ROH if he is lobbying to stay in NJPW despite leaving the promotion they have a talent-sharing agreement with.
