The Real Reason WWE Champion Cody Rhodes Feels ‘Selfish’

Despite being on top of a mountain, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes it feels “selfish”.

Speaking to the folks at the WWE RAW premiere Monday night on Netflix, Rhodes reflected on parenting. He called professional wrestling a “selfish” career choice.

“So (,) wrestling is selfish, and you have to get to the top, and you want to be number one,” Rhodes said. “And for so long – I even said this to Kevin Owens last week in the ring – I wanted it for myself.

“To a certain extent, maybe I wished that on my dad a little bit. I wanted it for him. Having a daughter right out of the gate, all that disappeared. It wasn’t about where I was. “It was more about the life I could give her,” he added.

He also explained that you have to “search in your soul” when you say something like that. Rhodes really wants to give his daughter the best life possible, just like his father, the late Dusty Rhodesdid for him.

“I had the best life in pro wrestling. I want to give her even, you know, more special — another level of it,” he revealed. “And it changed everything for me. You have to go home and report to a three-and-a-half-year-old who doesn’t care that you just wrestled in front of 80,000 people.

“She cares about you making funny noises and having ice cream, you know? So (she) changed everything for me in the best way,” Rhodes continued.

Cody Rhodes’ rise to the top of WWE

Since WrestleMania XL, Rhodes has been the top WWE Champion. He held the WWE Undisputed Championship for over 280 days and defended it against AJ Styles, Logan Paul, Solo Sikoa and Kevin Owens.

After leaving WWE in 2016, Rhodes went on the independent circuit and even helped launch All Elite Wrestling (AEV). He then left AEV in 2022 before returning to VVE in 2022.

Upon his return, Rhodes feuded with Seth Rollins and won a trilogy of matches against him. He then won the 2023 Men’s Royal Rumble match and faced Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 39.

Shockingly, he was unsuccessful in his pursuit of the title. Solo Siko interfered and cost Rhodes the match. This left “American Nightmare” waiting another year for a crack at Sequoia.

During that year, Rhodes feuded with Brock Lesnar. He also feuded with Doomsday, participating in a WarGames match against them at Survivor Series.

After winning his second consecutive Royal Rumble, Rhodes once again faced Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship. His road to Reigns would be tough, as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson entered the fray as “The Final Boss.” He overcame the odds to finish the story and become WWE Champion.