{"id":133991,"date":"2022-02-25T16:46:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T22:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=133991"},"modified":"2022-02-25T16:46:34","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T22:46:34","slug":"heydorns-take-cody-rhodes-reminds-the-wrestling-business-about-business-with-star-like-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/02\/25\/heydorns-take-cody-rhodes-reminds-the-wrestling-business-about-business-with-star-like-move\/","title":{"rendered":"HEYDORN&#8217;S TAKE: Cody Rhodes reminds the wrestling business about business with star-like move"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-650607685\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>I\u2019ve heard it all since Cody Rhodes and AEW announced that they had officially parted ways after three years, unable to agree on terms of a new contract as a talent and company EVP. \u201cCody is ditching the revolution he started!\u201d \u201cHe\u2019ll never be used properly in WWE!\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s been in WWE before and the creative process doesn\u2019t match his skillset!\u201d Catering is worse up in Connecticut!\u201d And on and on and on those comments, complaints, and rants went, bouncing around the Internet and social media like 75 runaway Ping-Pong balls on a hardwood floor.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2020\/07\/HeadshotHeydorn2020_180.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-102397 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2020\/07\/HeadshotHeydorn2020_180.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"210\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re probably waiting for me to take out a shovel and bury those prickly opinions, but I can\u2019t do it. The depths of social media aren\u2019t wrong. Cody is ditching his own Revolution. It\u2019s likely \u2013 almost probable \u2013 that he won\u2019t be used to the fullest potential in the WWE. Cody is a control freak. He wants to run his own show and history tells us that won\u2019t happen with Vince McMahon looming around the product like a Harry Potter Dementor. And who the heck knows? Tony Khan catering just might be five stars. Angry wrestling world, you\u2019re right, but so am I.<\/p>\n<p>That stuff doesn\u2019t mater. This is the wrestling business, folks. Let\u2019s not forget that. It\u2019s fun, it\u2019s art, it\u2019s entertaining, but it\u2019s a business and in a business, money, ego, and power typically trump fun. Cody sees himself as a top star and like top stars have always done, he\u2019s smart to keep the business of pro wrestling at the front of his decision-making, while giving pro wrestling a strong reminder of how stars act.<\/p>\n<p>It starts with ego. Not always a positive of the wrestling business, but the top stars have one and they\u2019re big. Massive. And if you really break it down and admit a hard truth, a massive ego is needed to become and stay a top star in any entertainment business entity. Top athletes, top actors, and top musicians all must carry a healthy opinion of themselves in order to attract the masses.<\/p>\n<p>Cody sees himself in that bright light. That exact vision is what led to him to leave the WWE in the first place \u2013 the notion that he was a star and could do big things and big business elsewhere. Cody bet on himself and won. Now, like any good businessperson and star, he wants to capitalize on that win.<\/p>\n<p>How? Well, the first way is money. He wanted a check with lots of zeros on it and who could blame him? Again, top athletes, top actors, top musicians get paid. Fan favorites constantly leave their home team in a quest to line their bank accounts. He gets this with a move to WWE. Right, wrong, and sometimes incorrect, money provides a hierarchy for talent and the best want to be on top.<\/p>\n<p>The second way is power. Cody wanted more of it. At the start of AEW he was swimming in it. He was on the booking committee with Tony Khan, his wife Brandi was involved in booking the women\u2019s division, and he hired many of his friends in addition to featuring the Nightmare Factory \u2013 his wrestling school. We know the story by now. Khan took the book on his own, Brandi faded out of the booking picture and lost her way as a character, and other premiere talents joined the company that had as much influence as Cody or more. By packing up and making the move to WWE, Cody gets some power back. It may be short-lived, most power grabs in WWE are, but leaving flexed Cody\u2019s muscle in the biggest way possible.<\/p>\n<p>Can we agree that wrestling lacks premiere, big name stars? And I mean true big name acts. John Cena level or better. Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Kazuchika Okada? I\u2019m sure I\u2019m missing a couple, but you get the point. There are more hours of wrestling in a week than ever before and only a handful of premiere stars to fill them. With the move to leave AEW and head to WWE, Cody just may have ignited the anti-revolution by submitting to the business of the business. Ambitious others are likely to follow because that\u2019s how top stars think. Not only does Cody have a blueprint, but he\u2019s also on the other side of the line to sell. The ego, money, and power in the business are strong beacons, pulsing at talent who want to chase it.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3074992934\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>And why not? Wrestling needs more of that me first, star attitude. The last days of the old black and gold NXT would tell you otherwise, but the business isn\u2019t a traveling theater troupe, working as one unit to put on the best show possible. The wrestling business is a star first business and in order for that to work, there has to be stars willing to optically act the part. Sometimes that means making tough, selfish business choices.<\/p>\n<p>Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Roman Reigns, and Brock Lesnar have all been top draws and moneymakers. Neither of those gentlemen would have sacrificed dollars or power in an effort to be simply be a part of something special. They saw themselves as alphas and worked the business however they could to maintain that status. Cody Rhodes just did the same thing. In a world where company allegiances are talked about more than ever, he shocked things into focus with the reminder that sometimes selfish makes stars.<\/p>\n<p>Is this all going to work out for Cody? Don\u2019t know. Couldn\u2019t tell you. Neither can he. The seven figure checks will cash nicely and that should stroke his ego for a little while. It\u2019s the pesky power element that\u2019s in question. In WWE it\u2019s a one-man game with Vince McMahon holding the cards and playing them however he likes. It\u2019s Cody\u2019s job to prove himself out and deliver. That\u2019s what stars do too.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>CATCH-UP:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/02\/24\/heydorns-dynamite-receipt-2-23-mjf-pulls-out-major-win-with-risky-high-upside-punk-promo\/\">HEYDORN\u2019S DYNAMITE RECEIPT 2\/23: MJF pulls out major win with risky, high upside Punk promo<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3405963982\"><div id=\"pwtor-74509318\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>I\u2019ve heard it all since Cody Rhodes and AEW announced that they had officially parted ways after three years, unable to agree on terms of a new contract as a talent and company EVP. \u201cCody <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2022\/02\/25\/heydorns-take-cody-rhodes-reminds-the-wrestling-business-about-business-with-star-like-move\/\" title=\"HEYDORN&#8217;S TAKE: Cody Rhodes reminds the wrestling business about business with star-like move\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":56675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,6454,53],"tags":[6121,4847,2169,71],"class_list":["post-133991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-heydorns-take","category-opinion_stafftakes","tag-aew","tag-cody","tag-cody-rhodes","tag-wwe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/03\/RhodesCodyJoe-DeFalcoROH_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133991"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133992,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133991\/revisions\/133992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}