Cody Rhodes Reportedly Signs With WWE

According to Mike Johnson of the Wrestling Inc., there is a new wrestler signed with the company. The contract was signed a few days ago and is expected to appear on the Raw brand.

There is a rumor that Rhodes will have a match against Rollins. According to a report, the company was holding out hope that they could get a deal done with Rhodes in time for a program against Rollins at the event. On Monday night, Kevin Owens defeated Rollins in a main event match for the right to face off against the rest of the world at Wrestlemania 38 in Dallas, Texas.

The Rhodes brothers shocked the wrestling world on February 15 when they announced they were leaving AEW. The Rhodes made a swift exit that caught many by, despite being involved with WarnerMedia properties.

The relationship between AEW President Tony Khan and Rhodes had been compromised by the loss of booking power due to issues in pay.

He left the company in May of 2016 after feeling overlooked andunderappreciated. Similar to his AEW exit, Rhodes announced the news in a sincere post on the social networking site, though his comments toward the company at the time were less than ideal.

I pitched every writer on the staff like a door-to-door salesman.

There are many people who sought to help me, including Brian James, Nick, J Russo, Dave K, and a few others.

After leaving the company he helped found, Rhodes finds himself in a position with something to prove to the wrestling world. In 2016 he found himself in a similar situation and ended up with All In pay-per-view and AEW.

As the first AEW-to-WWE defector, and AEW's first major star to jump ship to WWE, Rhodes' signing will be a fascinating case study of how an AEW talent will be portrayed on WWE television. The case study will come much earlier than the 2024 time period where top stars like MJF will be looking for new deals.

There are signs that Rhodes will be booked favorably in the WWE. There is an endless list of WWE Superstars who were able to make themselves even bigger stars elsewhere. Most of them were welcomed back to the company with open arms even though they left in acrimony.

Rhodes being promoted as a major star in WWE would be a positive sign for potential free agents from AEW. With the first billion-dollar year of the company behind them, these free agents would be looking to replicate Rhodes' success in the company. If not sold altogether, a major broadcast network or streaming service will give the industry leader even more funds to entice free agents.

The salary structure of the company may or may not be changed based on the amount of money it makes compared to what it pays its Superstars. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Brock and Roman were the highest-paid wrestlers in the company with a salary of $5 million per year.

The NBA, MLB and the NFL all pay their players around 50% of their league revenues. If all of the contracted talent on the main roster were paid a top-tier $5 million salary, it would represent 40% of the revenues for the company. There is a lot of uncertainty as to who is making what in WWE, but the actual percentage of wrestler salaries compared to WWE revenues is far, far lower.

During its busiest season of the year, the promotion can take advantage of the biggest wrestling news story of the year with the help of Cody Rhodes. With AEW dominating buzz and momentum through a handful of high-profile signings of late, all will take is one big fish for WWE to seize momentum back in its favor.