Cody Rhodes knows fans want to see an old belt back in WWE, but he won’t go as far as saying he’d bring it back if he won the company’s biggest prize.
WWE star Cody Rhodes recently appeared on After The Bell with Corey Graves and co-host Vic Joseph referenced Rhodes bringing back the “classic” Intercontinental Championship design when he was champion in 2011. Cody was then asked if he would do the same if he won the WWE Championship, and he admitted that he knows bringing back the famed “Winged Eagle” design would be “something” notable.
“To answer your question, if this were to happen, the ultimate dream was to be achieved — I did do that once with the Intercontinental title. It took a lot of work and it was the right call when we got there… hmm. I think there’s a particular design of the WWE Championship that people are very fond of. I don’t even want to say it, it’s two words, I think you guys know what I’m referring to,” Rhodes explained.
“I’d say hypothetically, Vic, it would be something, it really would be something to do that,” Rhodes stated, “[to] achieve the ultimate industry dream, being the best of the best ever, in terms of that moment in time. And then to perhaps give it a fresh coat of paint with the ‘Winged Eagle’, the redundantly named title we are discussing, that would just be something. That’s all I can really say. That would be something.”
The “Winged Eagle” title, which was alluded to at first before being directly referenced by Rhodes, was used as the design for the WWE Championship from 1988 to 1998.
Cody also spoke about the negative side of fandom in seeing wrestling tribalism, noting how it was weird to see AEW fans burning his shirts, but he can’t be too mad since he contributed to it, in a way.
“I did see it, it was weird seeing fans like burn my old AEW shirts which was a trend for a few days on social. So, it kind of felt like you were leading a sports team, like I left this city [laughs]. It didn’t break my heart but I do remember thinking, I thought it was odd because the place doesn’t exist without me. There’s other people that needed to be there for sure,” Cody explained, “but I’m one of the people that that place exists because of, AEW exists, partially — partially — because of me. So, for them to have that strong of [a reaction]… like, damn, a few times, I saw the term ‘sold out’, and I thought like ‘you have this! It’s great!’ It’s the most [prideful feeling].”
Rhodes is still working his way into the title picture, but he is set to face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania Backlash in a WrestleMania 38 rematch on 5/8.
Related: Cody Rhodes Was Jealous Of Original NXT Class, But Now Has Perspective And Connects With Them
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