At 41, Cody Rhodes hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down in the ring. However, that doesn’t mean he’s planning to go as long as possible.
We’ve seen many WWE legends wrestle into their ’50s, including The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Adam Copeland (Edge in WWE), Bret Hart and Chris Jericho. Even Sting and Ric Flair wrestled their respective final matches at 64 and 73, respectively.
Rhodes may still be at the top of his game, but the future Hall of Famer has warned fans that his retirement isn’t too far away.
During an interview with WrestleTalk (h/t F4WOnline.com), Rhodes revealed that retirement is likely coming “sooner rather than later.”
Though he didn’t give a precise timeframe, Rhodes indicated that he’ll be done by the time his oldest daughter, Liberty (born in 2021), turns 11. In 2032, the three-time WWE Champion will be 47.
“I’ll say, it probably will happen sooner than later,” Rhodes said. “And I’m not giving you any type of spoiler: time goes by. Time goes by like this (quickly). When my daughter is 11 years old, I’m not going to be falling down for a living anymore.
“And I think one of the things that I really enjoyed about how John did it is the finality he brought to it. ‘I have given you everything. This is all I have, anything else wouldn’t be right.’ And when John says he will never wrestle again, he really means it. So that finality was beautiful.”
Since 2025, four WWE icons have called it quits: Goldberg, John Cena, AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar. Rhodes isn’t going away just yet, but his message is a reminder for WWE fans to enjoy him while he’s still going strong.
Cody Rhodes’ Return Has Been a Blessing for WWE
(Photo by Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images)
Rhodes’ second tenure in WWE has been everything he could have asked for. Since re-signing with the company in 2022, “The American Nightmare” has already won four world championships and claimed back-to-back victories at the 2023 and 2024 Royal Rumble matches.
Before Rhodes returned, WWE had struggled to find a long-term babyface to help carry the company with Roman Reigns. Rhodes has answered the bell perfectly, and he’s still far from done.
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