Cody Rhodes believes he has roughly six to seven years left in WWE, and he does not want to wrestle into his 50s.
Rhodes, 41, made the comments on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, where he was reminded that he once said he would retire at 40. He joked that the old promise was just another one of his lies.
Asked whether he has a new number in mind, Rhodes said he just signed his last contract, but that it should run for a good while, especially if he can add more film work after Street Fighter. He then gave what he called a real answer: probably seven years, then six or seven, though he stressed he does not want to say it in a final sense.
That window runs a year or two past the length of his new deal. As SEScoops reported, The New York Times says the extension is for five years. Rhodes had already said on Flagrant that he plans to end his wrestling career with WWE, but he did not address the contract’s length or how the two timelines fit together in this interview.
Van Vliet noted that AJ Styles has said he does not want to wrestle into his 50s, and Rhodes said he feels the same. He has no shame for anyone who does, but he does not want to overstay his welcome. Rhodes said he has given a lot of himself to the business and been given far more in return, and that there comes a point when a wrestler has to stop taking. He is not there yet, but he believes that point falls inside that six to seven year window.
Rhodes, who first sat down with Van Vliet as a mid-card talent and now plays Guile in Street Fighter, also said “Cody fatigue is already pretty set in.” Asked if he feels it himself, he hedged, saying maybe not, but that a person can only go so far.
Street Fighter, in which Rhodes stars opposite Roman Reigns as Akuma, opened at No. 1 at the North American box office with an estimated $31 million. Rhodes also discussed the lingering effects of his WrestleMania 42 injury in the same interview.
