‘He Made Sure We Could Afford Cody Rhodes’ – WWE Star Recalls Cody Rhodes Making Himself Affordable For His Independent Promotion

WWE

A WWE star has revealed that Cody Rhodes made himself affordable for an independent wrestling promotion, going on to be Tag Team Champion.

Having parted ways with WWE in 2016, Cody Rhodes would undertake a successful independent wrestling career that would also see him compete in Alpha-1 Wrestling, the promotion owned by Ethan Page.

During a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Page would reflect on being able to book Rhodes and the lengths the star went to make that a possibility.

With Page and Rhodes becoming A1 Tag Team Champions, the star looked back on his time as booker and making the run happen, saying:

“… Our relationship started off very interesting, because we both worked in Evolve, we had to fight each other, it was a whole thing. Then my promotion in Canada seemed to be one of the stops that he wanted to make, and regularly, and my building only holds a certain amount of people.

“So if you’re good at math, you can figure out very quick that we probably can’t afford Cody Rhodes, but he made sure that we could afford Cody Rhodes, which the company will be indebted to him forever, because until now that was the hottest time the company has ever had, and the exposure that he gave us was like astronomical, and just for me as a performer in itself, he did a lot, but he always made sure that we could afford him.”

Page also revealed that he and Cody Rhodes would have stand-offs when Rhodes would refuse to take a cent of merch and meet-and-greet money, continuing:

“But the biggest issue that I have with Cody was the European standoff with his merch money, because it was always like, okay, if you’re going to do this and you’re going to be a good brother and you’re going to come out here, take all this cash from this meet and greet. It was just me and him, there’s wrestlers that had to witness this weird standoff where we’re fighting with each other about who’s gonna take the money.

“He fought to not take a cent. I don’t know what your deal is, what the purpose was, or why you felt that I have to now owe you some form of debt, but don’t come to claim it, okay? Because even back then I tried to turn this down, and now we are where we are, and I don’t want you to come around. What are we almost 10 years now? 10 years later to collect a debt I know I don’t owe.”

Rhodes and Page would defeat Virus (Gavin Quinn & Josh Alexander) to become A1 Tag Team Champions in June 2017, holding the titles until January of the following year.

With Rhodes going on to be a founder of AEW, Page would sign with the company in March 2021, remaining under contract until May 2024 and signing with WWE later that month.

Know Your Value

For any number of former WWE stars, entering the independent wrestling scene after a release or contract expiry must be a testing time.

The reputation the individual has built up will allow an independent wrestling promotion to advertise “as seen on WWE” as part of their push to sell tickets for their show, with the star in question hopefully in position to enhance one of the homegrown talent that will also be appearing on the show.

For some stars, their independent runs pay dividends, with Cody Rhodes and Matt Cardona (previously Zack Ryder) being prime examples of of just two WWE stars who found a new level of success beyond Raw and SmackDown. Nic Nemeth, the former Dolph Ziggler, has recently commented on the opportunities open to stars in a free market, noting that AEW has helped change the landscape.

Paul Heyman has also recently commented on the impact that AEW has had on the wrestling scene, noting that its very existence has “changed the compensation for talent“.

As long as an independent promotion can see the value of a former WWE star, there is bound to be room for them on shows, with international bookings as common as those in the United States.

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• wwe
• ethan page
• Cody Rhodes

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