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Vince Russo believes Cody Rhodes will have to pay his dues all over again in the eyes of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
Rhodes worked for McMahon between 2006 and 2016 before being granted his release. The 36-year-old went on to wrestle around the world and eventually became an AEW Executive Vice President in 2019. His AEW contract recently expired, prompting widespread reports that he is set to re-sign with WWE.
Russo, WWE’s head writer in the late 1990s, spoke to Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Dr. Chris Featherstone about Rhodes' future. He said the former Intercontinental Champion will likely have to prove himself yet again to Vince McMahon:
“He’s definitely gonna have to pay his dues again. I just talked about traditional Vince. None of that has changed, bro. Vince does not care what he did in AEW, what his role was.” Russo continued, “He’s gonna have to prove himself to Vince all over again, bro. It happens to every single person that goes back.” [15:23-15:51]
Watch the video above to hear more of Russo’s thoughts on why Rhodes has not yet been reintroduced to WWE programming ahead of WrestleMania 38.
Will Vince McMahon book Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 38?
While the match is yet to be announced, Cody Rhodes is expected to face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, Texas, on April 2-3. It is currently unclear if Rhodes will appear on WWE television before the two-night event.
The latest episode of RAW took place in Jacksonville, Florida, the same city where AEW is based. RAW’s location led to speculation that Rhodes could make an appearance, but the former AEW EVP was nowhere to be seen.
The main event saw Kevin Owens defeat Seth Rollins in a match to determine the host of a Steve Austin talk show segment at WrestleMania. Due to Rollins’ defeat, he remains without an opponent for WWE’s biggest show of the year.
Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the video if you use the quote from this article.
