Cody Rhodes To TNA?

[ShinChan]

According to F4WOnline.com, former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes is reportedly headed to TNA soon.

Dave Meltzer spoke with Cody at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla’s Battle of Los Angeles this weekend. Cody has a deal in place with TNA and is planning on working for both TNA and Ring of Honor but won’t be under contract to either.

Cody is apparently planning on feuding with Mike Bennett in TNA after the two recently worked together in Northeast Wrestling. Brandi Rhodes, the former Eden, has been doing some of Cody’s ring announcing on the indies and it sounds like she may appear in TNA as well, perhaps in a mini-feud with Bennett’s wife Maria Kanellis.

Here comes another person to make me tune into TNA every week. A great gimmick performer. Nice in-ring work too. TNA you have me as a permanent viewer until you book him and Rex gradually and strongly.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

Everytime I get my hopes high that TNA will turn around, they end up disappointing me. So I will look at this as I should. TNA is hiring a good worker who has a solid history with two of their biggest names in Drew Galloway and Aron Rex. I truly hope they acknowledge Rhodes's run in WWE, because he's the hottest free agent in the world right now (which is not saying much).

The fact that they want him and Bennett to have a rivalry is what really impresses me here. Bennett is an independent grown talent, he has no contact with WWE nor should he have. He's a homegrown ROH/TNA talent and he should get hottest angles to help him grow. Rhodes is the perfect foil. He's creative and like OP said "a great gimmick performer".

Bennett is not the best wrestler in the world by any means, but he has potential as long as he can tell a story and Rhodes has that psychology in him that only people who grew up in the business truly understands. I see him as a Randy Orton model of worker and that's a big compliment since Orton is easily one of the best workers in the world.

Can't wait. In a perfect world I'd debut him in a open challenge match at Bound For Glory. Bennett doesn't have a program as of right now with anyone for the biggest show of the year, so he can complain about that only to have Rhodes debut and ruin his big show. The story writes itself. No need of the wife's drama to establish the bad blood.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Rhodes is a good work and he's a name. He's not an immediately boost ratings kind of name, but he's still a name. I'm excited, I really like Cody and he can definitely add to all the good things happening in TNA right now.

Starting off against Miracle is great. You're not doing WWE redux with Galloway or Rex. You're not repeating the mistakes of the past by immediately putting him in the title scene with EC3 or Lashley.

He's a good get. TNA should build its own stars, but this is a guy who can be a their own star. Angle spent more time in TNA than WWE, I think of him as a TNA guy even though he fits the started in WWE now we're here mould. Cody is barely 30 and has years of good wrestling ahead of him. He may have a mid-30s renaissance of incredible wrestling ahead of him yet.

Cody Rhodes is the son of a wrestler, he was likely going to wrestle anyway. WWE squandered him. It'll be interesting to see which direction they head with him. Cody's best work in WWE was during his face-masked un-dashing gimmick. Hopefully they can revisit that spark and those dark promos, though Impact has a lot of dark characters at the top right now, mostly in the tag division.

Cody to Impact is good, it will only be bad if it's handled poorly (straight to the world title) or if it's too much WWE (Rhodes Scholars and Galloway all day). This is the new Impact though, so let's not focus on the negatives of the past. He won't do any angles that involve Dream, so whatever we get should be relatively new.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

Great move if true! Stay away from signing the likes of the Dudlez and ADR. Now, can't wait until Jan 2017 when Matt Taven, Kyle O'Reilly, and Adam Cole will join the fold. TNA is definitely heading in the right direction.

 

[filthyanimalz]

The Impact roster is bursting with talent now, Cody is a great addition. Capable of transitioning from the main title picture to X division. I was looking forward to Bennett v Moose at BFG but hoping for Cody to feature at BFG now.

 

[stingray11214]

Cody Rhodes going to TNA will only elevate him. In NJPW, he would have been lost in the shuffle. He will be a title contender in short order. Only problem is that it might bury some on the peripherals. Now, if they can just get rid of those idiotic "Facts of Life" segments....

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Will be a solid addition, and it's right in Rhodes' wheelhouse, as he's said a few times now in recent weeks he has no interest in signing an exclusive deal with anyone right now. This allows him an opportunity to come into TNA, work an angle or two, and exit on his own terms.

On a related note, I feel like this type of deal going forward might be best for TNA getting back on track, too. Continue to offer this kind of flexibility to guys you feel can step in and make positive waves for you. They sort of did it with Galloway for a while before locking him up, and I feel they could probably offer Stu Bennett and others similar deals. It's almost like a tryout.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

2 things about this, first he's not going to be a full time performers since he's not signing a contract with them. He going to a per apparence type of performer which is weird for tna because you would have thought that TNA would try to do anything in their power to make sure they have exclusivity with cody rhodes.


secondly, he's not going to be able to use the rhodes names in tna since the cody rhodes names is a trademark from wwe and they won't let him use it on tv. He could do like his big brother did once and go with is real name of cody runnels but it does sound as great as cody rhodes.

still, even if it's for a one off to put mike benett over, I still interested in seing what he can do without the wwe machine behind him

 

[stingray11214]

2 things about this, first he's not going to be a full time performers since he's not signing a contract with them. He going to a per apparence type of performer which is weird for tna because you would have thought that TNA would try to do anything in their power to make sure they have exclusivity with cody rhodes.


secondly, he's not going to be able to use the rhodes names in tna since the cody rhodes names is a trademark from wwe and they won't let him use it on tv. He could do like his big brother did once and go with is real name of cody runnels but it does sound as great as cody rhodes.

still, even if it's for a one off to put mike benett over, I still interested in seing what he can do without the wwe machine behind him

I was under the impression that Cody mentioned the Runnels family has control over the name Rhodes.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

According to Dave Meltzer, who I don't always 100% trust, he isn't allowed to use the Rhodes name on television, but he can still wrestle indy appearances under the Rhodes name.

 

[Rayne]

Great move if true! Stay away from signing the likes of the Dudlez and ADR. Now, can't wait until Jan 2017 when Matt Taven, Kyle O'Reilly, and Adam Cole will join the fold. TNA is definitely heading in the right direction.

Forum search is a dangerous, dangerous thing:

(thread link) It matters not, wheter he's Stardust or Cody Rhodes. He's shit either ways. The best thing the crappy bookers can do is take him off tv for 6 months to a year. Hopefully then he'll retire and just go away. He's a shit/nobody/nothing character that only a few tools like. Get his ass off tv and put more deserving young talent in his spot.

That's from all of eleven months ago.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

I'm very excited! I can't wait for Cody to do his thing in TNA! Great signing, welcome to TNA Mr. Rhodes. Watch TNA turn this cat into a major star!

 

[Rayne]

I'm very excited! I can't wait for Cody to do his thing in TNA! Great signing, welcome to TNA Mr. Rhodes. Watch TNA turn this cat into a major star!

We know. You make those posts in reverse order every time someone leaves TNA for the WWE.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I'm very excited! I can't wait for Cody to do his thing in TNA! Great signing, welcome to TNA Mr. Rhodes. Watch TNA turn this cat into a major star!

I Just hope that he's able to become a star as Cody Runnels in TNA because per the agreement that he sign with WWE, Cody won't be able to use the rhodes name in TNA or ROH since both company have a tv deal in place and he can'T use the rhodes name on another tv wrestling show.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

I Just hope that he's able to become a star as Cody Runnels in TNA because per the agreement that he sign with WWE, Cody won't be able to use the rhodes name in TNA or ROH since both company have a tv deal in place and he can'T use the rhodes name on another tv wrestling show.

Cody Runnels would work. I am expecting Rhodes and Rex to be a tag team. Can't wait to see their work against the Wolves and Lashley/Moose.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

From what I've read, cody is on a per apparence deal and might just stay in tna to feud with mike benett which will be an awesome feud and then will move on to roh.

 

[ramblinroy682]

TNA isn't signing Cody to make Cody a star. They're signing Cody Rhodes to elevate Mike Bennett. Now, I didn't like the pairing of Moose and Bennett. But, history shows, sometimes it take a couple of tries to find the right Big Man. Think Shawn Michaels, Sid Vicious, and Diesel.

However, if I were TNA, I might go to the old school playbook here. I'd let Mike Bennett find a muscle guy to be his enforcer. Bennett can talk about how the first guy he brought in didn't measure up. Didn't get the job done. I'd have him cutting a few promos talking about how he found someone who knows the business. Someone who grew up around the business. Someone who's dad was a major player for years. In the next promo, I'd have him talk about the same stuff, but this time let the first name slip. "I've got someone to watch my back. This man will shock the world. Cody...I've said too much." Then at BFG, I'd have Cody Hall from New Japan jump the guardrail and begin beating down Moose. Now you've got a new mini faction. Bennett and Hall.

The next week on Impact, Moose comes out seeking revenge against Hall. Hall and Bennett continue the beat down, until the music hits, the lights go out, and there's Cody Runnels standing at the top of the ramp. He comes down and makes the save. Cody then cuts a promo about how he's been listening to Bennett claiming to be a miracle. He talks about how in his family there aren't miracles. You get your achievements through hard work and perseverance. He's here in TNA to show that in America, hard work and effort can still get you to the top. Cutting corners and con artists like Mike Bennett don't deserve their spots.

Over the next few weeks, we see tag team matches, DQ's, and non-finishes until, the Steel Cage Match is made at the next pay-per-view. Loser leaves TNA forever. Bennett vs. Runnels. Bennett goes over in the Cage. Now, we have a set up for ECIII vs. Bennett title program.

 

[Isaac Kaye]

It's a good move for Cody and gives him the chance to reinvent himself a little. I was really impressed by his run a few years back - especially that feud with Orton. But that was a long time ago now and he lost a lot of steam and struggled to get his characters over with the crowd. He overacts in my opinion - I'd like to see him take things more seriously and TNA is a good place to begin that.
Good coup for TNA too. Hopefully it works out for all involved!

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

TNA isn't signing Cody to make Cody a star. They're signing Cody Rhodes to elevate Mike Bennett. Now, I didn't like the pairing of Moose and Bennett. But, history shows, sometimes it take a couple of tries to find the right Big Man. Think Shawn Michaels, Sid Vicious, and Diesel.

However, if I were TNA, I might go to the old school playbook here. I'd let Mike Bennett find a muscle guy to be his enforcer. Bennett can talk about how the first guy he brought in didn't measure up. Didn't get the job done. I'd have him cutting a few promos talking about how he found someone who knows the business. Someone who grew up around the business. Someone who's dad was a major player for years. In the next promo, I'd have him talk about the same stuff, but this time let the first name slip. "I've got someone to watch my back. This man will shock the world. Cody...I've said too much." Then at BFG, I'd have Cody Hall from New Japan jump the guardrail and begin beating down Moose. Now you've got a new mini faction. Bennett and Hall.

The next week on Impact, Moose comes out seeking revenge against Hall. Hall and Bennett continue the beat down, until the music hits, the lights go out, and there's Cody Runnels standing at the top of the ramp. He comes down and makes the save. Cody then cuts a promo about how he's been listening to Bennett claiming to be a miracle. He talks about how in his family there aren't miracles. You get your achievements through hard work and perseverance. He's here in TNA to show that in America, hard work and effort can still get you to the top. Cutting corners and con artists like Mike Bennett don't deserve their spots.

Over the next few weeks, we see tag team matches, DQ's, and non-finishes until, the Steel Cage Match is made at the next pay-per-view. Loser leaves TNA forever. Bennett vs. Runnels. Bennett goes over in the Cage. Now, we have a set up for ECIII vs. Bennett title program.

Interesting...Personally I think in Jan 2017 Bennett and Matt Taven will be reunited. Cody Hall is a big ole heaping tub of shit in the ring.

 

[Rayne]

Interesting...Personally I think in Jan 2017 Bennett and Matt Taven will be reunited. Cody Hall is a big ole heaping tub of shit in the ring.

The bet I offered you with Matt Taven arriving in TNA by January 31st, 2017 is still on the table.

 

[Bischoff's Knob Slobberer]

It's a good move for Cody and gives him the chance to reinvent himself a little. I was really impressed by his run a few years back - especially that feud with Orton. But that was a long time ago now and he lost a lot of steam and struggled to get his characters over with the crowd. He overacts in my opinion - I'd like to see him take things more seriously and TNA is a good place to begin that.
Good coup for TNA too. Hopefully it works out for all involved!

I agree! I expect good things from Cody. He will make Bennet a major star!