WWE star Cody Rhodes has given an indication as to when his in-ring career will come to an end.
Following his return to WWE in 2022, The American Nightmare has become one of the top stars in the entire company. As well as being the one to bring Roman Reigns’ 1,316-day reign as champion to an end, Rhodes has won the top title multiple times and is a 2-time Royal Rumble winner.
A future Hall of Fame inductee and one of the veterans on the roster, Rhodes is nearing the end of his career. Even though the WWE schedule is lighter than it has ever been, the 41-year-old is aware that the final match will come soon. Additionally, the former World Champion has been involved in multiple acting projects, most recently playing the role of Giule in Street Fighter.
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Rhodes was asked if he had an end date in mind for his wrestling career. The SmackDown star admitted that he has signed his final wrestling contract and sees himself as an active competitor for around six more years:
“I just signed my last contract. I say last contract, but that’s going to go for a while, and if I’m able to do what I’ve been able to do, because I would love this year not to be just one movie, but perhaps two movies, and I’d love to kind of be able to share that at some point, get that going, and be in that. With all that said, my time with WWE could go. I mean, just to give you a real answer here, and not politic around you, probably seven years. Six, seven? I didn’t mean it like that, but yeah, you know that’s a kids’ thing, right? Had to have Carmelo Hayes explain to me what that was, and I still didn’t get it. Yeah, six, seven years. I’d say so. Yeah, and I don’t want to say that in a final sense. I just know that I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
Rhodes recently revealed in another interview that he had re-signed with WWE.
Cody Rhodes Has No Plans To Extend His In-Ring Career Into His 50s
It was then brought up that AJ Styles promised to not wrestle in his 50s. When asked if the same applied to him, Rhodes responded that he also won’t wrestle in his 50s. The American Nightmare also elaborated on how much wrestling has given him over the years:
“Well, definitely don’t want to wrestle into my 50s. No shame to anyone who wrestles in their 50s. I don’t want to overstay my welcome in a sense of this, right? So, I have been given so much from wrestling, and you have to think about my career in its totality. The things that we don’t talk about, the things that I don’t get asked about anymore. You have to think about all that. I have shed so much of my skin for the industry, but I have also been given so, so, so much. I think there’s a point where you have to stop taking. I’m not there, but there’s a point, and I think that’s in that time frame, a point where you just have to stop taking. It’s giving me everything. I am talking to you today, the first time I talked to you, I was a mid-card talent at WWE, and no shame to anything in the mid-card. Mid-card’s beautiful. I heard Triple H explain mid-card in a way that changed my perception of it forever. But I was a mid-card talent with a ceiling that was right above my head, and I’m talking to you today as someone who got to play Guile from Street Fighter, created by Capcom, a game that I played growing up as a little kid.”
Rhodes also admitted that despite being one of the more popular stars on the roster, he is aware that there is some fan fatigue on his character:
“Again, be careful what you wish for, but also I don’t know how many moments like this I can take, and I can get hopefully more, hopefully a lot more. But I’ve been so lucky so far and so blessed so far that I think wrestling. I mean, Cody fatigue is already pretty set in.”
Featured image: WWE
