Cody Rhodes signs with WWE per PWI Insider

Mike Johnson of PWI Insider reports that Cody Rhodes has officially signed with the WWE.

For the last month, Rhodes has been one of the biggest news stories in professional wrestling. When news of his contract ending with All Elite Wrestling first hit, it was expected that the two parties would find a deal to keep them together. That would not be the case, as the former three-time AEW TNT Champion and two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion is heading back to the WWE.

According to the PWI Insider report, the deal was signed 10-14 days ago.

Rhodes’s last match with AEW occurred back in January when Sammy Guevara in a TNT title unification ladder match defeated him. He is the only individual to hold that championship three times. As an EVP of AEW, he was central to the creation of the promotion, being one of the driving forces that brought the wrestling world All In, the precursor to AEW.

The expectations are that Rhodes will return to the company at WrestleMania in a showcase match against Seth Rollins. Rollins is currently without a solid program heading into the WWE’s biggest annual event. The last time Rhodes appeared on WWE television was back in 2016 when he took part in a battle royal for the number one contendership for the WWE United States Championship.

This is an interesting move for not only Rhodes but the future of the competition between AEW and WWE. Free agency has become a major leverage point for many of the performers, especially those that were released by the WWE during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Many names such as Ruby Soho, Buddy Matthews, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, and others made the move from the WWE to AEW. Rhodes will be the first contracted AEW performer to move from that promotion and go to the WWE. If his experience is a positive one, it will be interesting to see how that impacts the perception of leaving AEW to go to the biggest company in the industry.

WrestleMania 38 is scheduled for two nights starting on Saturday, April 2 through Sunday, April 3. For more news and opinion about Cody Rhodes, AEW, and WWE, stick with Daily DDT.