WWE Champ Cody Rhodes Explains No. 1 Thing He Learned As Talent In Wrestling Business

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes has opened up about what he's learned the most as a talent in the wrestling industry, compared to being an executive. When "The American Nightmare" was still under contract with AEW, he not only would compete in the ring but was also an Executive Vice President of the company, where he was responsible for playing a significant role in signing talent, creative decisions, and analyzing ticket sales, merchandise sales, and ratings. However, Rhodes now explains that it's important to understand numbers and viewership as a talent as well.

Speaking on "The Pivot Podcast," Rhodes revealed that as a talent you become delusional in the wrestling business due to the inflation of ratings, sales and numbers, while stating he often contacts John Cena to help him break down his merchandise sheet. "As a talent we are consistently delusional and I love confidence, I love a swagger but you have to really know how many tickets are we actually selling, how many shirts do we actually move, and the numbers socially are so inflated, you got to really look at what was the gross, hey let's look at these minute-by-minute ratings ... I get my merch sheet still of what I sold in the Garden, percentage and all this. I'll tell you who I sent it to and I don't send it to him as a "check it out," I send it to him because I know he's going to tell me the truth is Cena." 

Rhodes continued to explain that Cena often tells him to discover how well his merchandise is selling on the shows he's not part of, while also revealing the number one rule in wrestling is never ask somebody how much money they're making.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Pivot Podcast" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.