Those close to Cody Rhodes report that the former WWE Superstar is very adamant about showing everyone what he thinks he can do. Cody tweeted a post-WWE “to-do list” several weeks back and has told the people assisting with his bookings, to get as many matches with opponents on that list as possible.
That list included names like Trevor Lee, Roderick Strong, Kurt Angle, Mike Bennett and The Young Bucks. You can check out the full list here.
Cody will face Bennett and Angle in late August for the Northeast Wrestling promotion. It appears Cody could be somewhat of a NEW regular as promoter Mike O’Brien is helping with bookings and was close with Dusty Rhodes.
– Cody Rhodes will face TNA star Mike Bennett on 8/26 in Pittsfield, MA for the Northeast Wrestling promotion. As we reported before, Cody will face Kurt Angle at NEW’s 8/27 event in Wappingers Falls, NY. Bennett was one of the names on Cody’s list of post-WWE opponents he wanted to face.
– The Fan Garage has published the second half of their interview with Dixie Carter at this link. She commented on the partnership with SonySix in India:
“They’ve been great partners for a long time, and we would love to make India our second home. The potential is unlimited here, the fan base is so passionate about all the sports, especially wrestling and we see some great opportunities to grow the business in India as we have some incredible partners in Sony. We definitely want to tape television from India and we are currently discussing about the same.”
It looks like Cody Rhodes has lined up another high-profile independent date for this summer.
Earlier this week, news broke that Cody signed on to face Kurt Angle at Northeast Wrestling’s “Wrestling Under The Stars” show from Wappingers Falls, NY (8/27).
On Thursday, Rhodes tweeted a message that indicates he’ll be appearing for EVOLVE on August 19th. That show, EVOLVE 66, will take place from Joppa, MD. As of this writing, there is no official word that Cody will be wrestling on the show, but EVOLVE’s phenomenal roster makes this a very intriguing situation.
Tickets for EVOLVE 66 are now available at DGUSA.tv.
Cody Rhodes’ first post-WWE booking has been announced and his opponent will be none other than Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle.
Rhodes vs. Angle will headline Northeast Wrestling’s “Wrestling Under The Stars” event, which takes place Saturday, August 27th from Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, New York.
Just days ago, Cody Rhodes posted a wrestling bucket list of his remaining goals in the business, one of which was working with Kurt Angle. On August 27th, he’ll get his wish. Meanwhile, Kurt Angle has also been keeping busy since finishing up with TNA earlier this year. After wrestling Rey Mysterio at URFight’s first show back in March, he’s scheduled to face Zack Sabre Jr. on June 12th from London for Revolution Pro Wrestling.
Former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes tweeted a checklist on Saturday with the caption, After 8/19. The list appears to be Cody’s upcoming ‘wish list’ of opponents and accomplishments, including talent in ROH, NJPW, TNA and more. Based on the list, its clear that Cody still has big aspirations in the business outside the auspices of WWE. He’s instantly one of the hottest free agents anywhere and has over a dozen very intriguing opportunities ahead of him.
– Noelle Foley has been training at the New York Wrestling Connection school in Deer Park, NY, near the Foley family home in Long Island. Footage of Noelle and Mick training at the school, which is owned by Mikey Whipwreck, will be shown on the “Holy Foley” WWE Network reality show this fall.
– Eden and Cody Rhodes have changed their Twitter handles now that their WWE releases have been granted. Eden updated fans with this tweet:
Recently released WWE star Cody Rhodes posted a cryptic message on Twitter about his wife, WWE announcer Eden. Rhodes hinted in a tweet on Tuesday evening that there will be some sort of revelation about Eden in the next 24 hours. “Lot of folks say “ride or die” these days…well @RealEdenWWE is just that,” he wrote, “in the next 24hrs, most people will realize what I’m saying.”
Eden first joined WWE in 2011, then after a two-year hiatus returned as an announcer and backstage interviewer. Her and Rhodes got married in 2013.
Zack Ryder is the latest WWE talent to comment on Rhodes’ departure from the company. Rhodes requested his release from the company due to creative differences, and he reportedly left the company on bad terms.
– Despite losing to Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules and Kevin Owens on Raw last night, WWE still has a big push planned for AJ Styles but we don’t know exactly what they have in the works yet.
– WWE officials were not happy with Cody Rhodes’ Twitter statement on why he left the company, especially the line about one head writer being too busy hitting on developmental Divas.
Cody Rhodes requested his release from WWE this week, and has reportedly left the company on bad terms. Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that the split was “not amicable,” and indicated that WWE is going to try to prevent him for working for another wrestling company as long as they’re legally able to.
Meltzer reported that WWE is “kind of putting the screws to” Rhodes, who wrote on Twitter that he had “pleaded with WWE creative” to drop the Stardust character so he could go by his real name again. Apparently WWE did plan on dropping the Stardust gimmick around WrestleMania 32, but Vince McMahon and Triple H decided not to. Meltzer says “it was more Vince McMahon on this one” than Triple H.
Since he quit, Rhodes may be held to the remaining length of his contract before he’s permitted to work elsewhere.
On Sunday evening, Cody Rhodes issued a lengthy statement explaining his decision to ask for his WWE release. Cody noted that this is his one and only statement on the matter and that he won’t be doing any podcast or tell-all nonsense.
WWE.com announced on Sunday afternoon that Cody Rhodes has been granted his release from the company:
Cody Rhodes released
WWE has come to terms on the release of Cody Rhodes as of today, May 22, 2016. WWE wishes Rhodes the best in all his future endeavors.
He had been with the company since 2006, having started out in developmental at Ohio Valley Wrestling. During his 8-year run on the main roster, he captured the Intercontinental championship twice, is a 6-time tag team champion and won Slammy Awards in 2010 (Outstanding Achievement of Baby Oil Application) and 2013 (Tag Team of the year with Goldust).
Amidst speculation regarding why he’s decided to leave WWE, Cody vows to set the record straight as early as this evening:
– Rusev will be taking fan questions in the WWE Extreme Rules Social Media Lounge during tonight’s pre-show. Fans can tweet questions with the hashtag #AskRusev.
– Cody Rhodes tweeted the following update, noting that he may provide more answers on his situation tonight:
As noted, Cody Rhodes revealed on his personal Twitter account that he has requested his release from WWE. This may be unrelated but PWInsider reports that Cody and brother Goldust left this past Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings before they began filming.
Cody’s wife Eden (Brandi Rhodes) has been teasing career changes on her Twitter for more than a month. Below are comments from her, Stephen Amell and the recently-released Kyle Edwards (Arda Ocal) on Cody’s announcement:
Cody Rhodes has asked to be released from his contract with WWE.
The wrestler, who portrays Stardust, said on his personal Twitter account on Saturday, “The past ten years have been quite the trek, but as of earlier today I have asked for my release from WWE.”
“I’ll speak further on the matter shortly. Thank you to all the pro-wrestling/sports entertainment fans worldwide. Thank you.”
– Hornswoggle has been announced to appear at the ACW 13 event on June 3 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is Swoggle’s hometown.
– Memphis wrestling legends and WWE Hall of Famers Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Valiant will be appearing at Lawler’s Bar & Grille on Beale Street in Memphis tomorrow from 4-6pm.
– Stardust continues to tease the return of Cody Rhodes:
– We now know that “The Shining Stars” will continue using the names Primo and Epico when they re-debut on Raw this coming Monday. Here’s the latest video for the former Los Matadores:
– John Cena and Nikki Bella have been invited to President Obama’s final White House Correspondents Dinner this Saturday, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
– WWE won 3 Cynopsis Sports Media Awards this past week, including best streaming content service, best mobile app and best social media campaign for Conor’s Cure. It was also announced this week that the WWE Network won a Webby Award for the best online sports channel/network.
– Rusev confirms that he’s done with the dissolving League of Nations stable:
I'm done with LON I'm gonna go so hard motherbrother wanna fine me….. What's another title for a BRUTE like me can you please remind me
Cody Rhodes, with help from NXT star Tommaso Ciampa, will soon be launching a new charity campaign in honor of Kris Travis, the British wrestler who succumbed to cancer on March 31st. Cody tweeted the following on the campaign, which features the Dusty Rhodes ladder he used at WrestleMania 32:
The campaign for the “Our Ladder” t-shirts should be launching in the next week, however I did want to inform fans that to honor late Pro-Wrestling star Kris Travis, the charity receiving 100% of the profits will be CAVENDISH CANCER CARE.
Full disclosure, I never had the privilege to meet Kris. I know in pro-wrestling gaining the respect of your peers is invaluable and does not come easy. When asked about him, a trusted peer of mine said he was a “good man.”
With the industry muddled in social media-negativity and selfishness we could certainly use more individuals like Kris. With Tommaso Ciampa’s help, I am really looking forward to launching this campaign.
When asked by a fan on Twitter about his future, Cody Rhodes aka Stardust revealed his plans for retirement. His father Dusty wrestled until he was 60 years old, and his brother Dustin currently wrestles at 46, but Cody says he’s going to bow out of competition a little sooner.
– NXT Diva Eva Marie flew into Philadelphia, PA this morning, site of tonight’s WWE RAW. She posted a video on Snapchat of her getting off an airplane. Eva Marie has not wrestled on WWE television since September 2014.
– When asked on Twitter if the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament will be an annual event in NXT, Cody Rhodes replied:
It looks like one of the more pleasantly surprising storylines from WWE in 2015 is going to be continuing. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson is reporting that this Saturday at the Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in Secacus, New Jersey, WWE has plans to send a crew to shoot video of a confrontation between Stardust and Arrow star Stephen Amell. It would seem as if there are now plans to do a singles match between them, and since it’s a celebrity match, you have to wonder if it’s earmarked for WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, Texas.
Amell and Stardust had a brief feud last year culminating in a tag team match at SummerSlam, where Amell and Neville defeated Stardust and King Barrett. Amell showed pretty impressive athleticism in his appearances, even hitting a big dive off the top rope to the floor at SummerSlam, and generally got high marks from fans for his performances. However, he was clearly being protected by the tag match booking at SummerSlam and a singles match is a much taller order for a non-wrestler.
– It appears that a movie or documentary on late WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes is going to be released in 2017. Dusty’s son, Cody Rhodes (Stardust), took to social media on Friday to post the following teaser for the project, which he claims will be called, “The Last Cowboy.”
Official announcement & more details forthcoming…but here’s something to get excited for “The Last Cowboy” 2017 pic.twitter.com/yXmsVf5QU1
– Former WWE Divas Champion Layla and former WWE Superstar Ricky Ortiz were married earlier this month in Arizona. WWE has since acknowledged the marriage, as they wrote the following congratulatory message on their official website on Friday:
“After revealing their engagement this past summer, former WWE Divas Champion Layla and former WWE Superstar Ricky Ortiz (Richard Young) were married earlier this month. Join the rest of the WWE Universe in congratulating Layla and Ortiz on this exciting new chapter in their lives!”