In 2025, The American Nightmare’s workload will double as he appears on both Raw and Smackdown. He will defend two titles against Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble. But first, Rhodes must recover from his neck injury and get medically cleared to wrestle again.
Cody Rhodes has been the talk of the town in the wrestling world for the past few weeks.
His match against Kevin Owens for the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion title ended in Owens sending Rhodes to the hospital with a banned piledriver. In addition to wishing Rhodes a quick and easy recovery, fans have been on the edge of their seats waiting to see how Rhodes will get his revenge.
Kevin Owens appeared on December 27th’s episode of WWE Raw “parading around” with the Winged Eagle belt he’d stolen from Cody Rhodes after attacking him. Smackdown general manager Nick Aldis did not appreciate Owens rubbing salt in Rhodes’ round. Aldis demanded that Owens “return the title by the show’s end or risk severe consequences.”
Owens demanded to speak to Aldis one-on-one “with no security present.” During their conversation, Owens declared that the belt was “his only bargaining chip to getting a rematch against Rhodes.” He insisted that he had been “screwed out of their title match.” Aldis stood his ground, declaring that “Owens would be banned from WWE unless he handed over the title.”
Right when it seemed like fans were finally going to get to see Nick Aldis fight, the American Nightmare arrived to set the record straight. Rhodes proposed that he and Owens settle this once and for all with a ladder match for the Undisputed WWE Champion and Winged Eagle Championship titles. Aldis scheduled the match for the Royal Rumble on February 1st.
Owens had gotten what he wanted, but this didn’t stop him from attacking Rhodes once again. After the ladder match was made official, Owens offered to shake Rhodes hand. Rhodes, not too keen on shaking the hand of the man who had landed him in the hospital, refused. Rhodes’ refusal offended Owens so much that Owens shoved Aldis into Rhodes “knocking both men down.” Rhodes then “repeatedly stomped on Rhodes’ injured neck.”
Though Aldis was able to “[shield] Rhodes from further neck damage”, having your injured neck stomped on by the person who injured it in the first place could not have been a pleasant experience for Rhodes.
Believe it or not, this upcoming rematch with Kevin Owens isn’t the only reason people can’t stop talking about Cody Rhodes.
In early 2024, Netflix announced that, starting in January 2025, WWE RAW would be exclusively streaming on Netflix in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Latin America.
As RAW’s January 6 Netflix Debut draws closer, “fans have speculated whether Rhodes might be leaving SmackDown for Raw.”
Cody Rhodes has had major roles on both RAW and Smackdown since the beginning of his career. He made his WWE TV debut on Raw in 2007 as part of a backstage segment with his father Dusty Rhodes and Randy Orton. His first match was on Raw, where he lost to Randy Orton.
Rhodes’ first appearance on Smackdown was in 2010 as part of a tag team with Drew McIntyre.
In 2016, Rhodes left WWE and spent the next few years “[making] his way around the independent circuit.” He joined All Elite Wrestling (AEW) when it started in 2019, and stayed until early 2022. This was when he created his American Nightmare persona.
In March 2022, Cody Rhodes made his epic return to WWE at Wrestlemania 38. In April 2022, The American Nightmare appeared on Raw for the first time in six years to go head-to-head with The Miz. Rhodes spent the first two years of his WWE return appearing solely on RAW. During his time on RAW, Cody Rhodes became incredibly popular among fans. So popular that The Sportster deemed him “the cool new megastar who is the future of WWE” and “the face of WWE.”
In April 2024, Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 and became the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Reigns, the previous Champion, had primarily appeared on Smackdown. During the 2024 WWE Draft, Rhodes was moved to SmackDown “to fulfill his obligations as the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion.” Since then, Cody Rhodes has solely appeared on Smackdown.
Because RAW’s move to Netflix will allow it to reach a much larger audience, fans have speculated that the widely popular Cody Rhodes “might be leaving Smackdown for Raw.” In June, Cody Rhodes talked about the move to SmackDown in an interview with DDP. During this interview, Rhodes called the move “an adjustment.” He said “ I was so all over the three hours of Raw and now with SmackDown just being in a little two hour block, but it’s also been a little more selective in how I’ve been used with SmackDown.” Rhodes said that he still watches Raw and that he misses it.
Sean Ross Sapp addressed these rumors in a recent episode of his Frightful Select podcast. Sapp revealed that Netflix requested Rhodes’ presence on both Raw and Smackdown. He also pointed out that WWE’s Holiday Tour ends this week. After the Tour, Rhodes’ schedule will be open on Monday and Friday nights, allowing him to appear on both Raw and Smackdown. According to RingSide News, Rhodes’ presence on both brands is “part of WWE’s plan to deliver maximum star power for their streaming era.” Even though Rhodes will be “pulling double duty”, his “mainstay role on Smackdown” as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion “remains intact.”
2025 is shaping up to be a huge year for The American Nightmare. His workload will double as he appears on both Raw and Smackdown. He will defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Champion and Winged Eagle titles against Kevin Owens at the Royal Rumble. But first Rhodes has to cover from his neck injury and be medically cleared to wrestle again.
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