What’s the story?
Cody Rhodes recently spoke to SI.com about the WWE not allowing him to use the Rhodes name outside the company, his work with several regional promotions, his indie-circuit schedule and much more.
In case you didn’t know...
Cody Rhodes (Cody Runnels) is the son of the late-great Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels) and younger brother of WWE’s Goldust (Dustin Runnels), who performed for the WWE from 2007 until his departure from the company last year.
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Cody has been wrestling for several other notable promotions ever since, including Impact Wrestling, Ring Of Honor (ROH), New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), EVOLVE and PWG among others.
The 30-year-old has been performing under the name Cody, without using his surname Rhodes owing to the fact that WWE owns the intellectual property rights to the pro-wrestling character of Cody Rhodes.
Also read: Cody Rhodes nearly kills ROH superstar with a cringeworthy chair shot
The heart of the matter
Rhodes clarified that he doesn’t begrudge his former employers for disallowing him from using his own surname as a performer outside the company, stating that if nothing more, he’s happy being Cody. Here are a few excerpts from his statements-
“I’ll tell you this, and I’ve not told anyone this, but I don’t mind that WWE took away my last name. Deep down, in my bones, I definitely want it back – and I have plans to get it back – but there is something to being Cody. The longer I don’t have a last name, the more I’m OK with it.”
“That’s not to say WWE is holding it ransom. It’s literally an intellectual property law that easily can be remedied, but there is something about being Cody that I don’t mind. There is something to not always reminding people of a show they’ve already seen, but instead embracing the one right in front of him. I am Cody, and I can promise you that the future is going to be even better than the past.”
The 2-time WWE Intercontinental champion also revealed that he doesn’t know how much longer he’d be able to keep up with all the travelling he’s doing in order to wrestle for multiple promotions, stating that at this point, he does have to find a new home.
What’s next?
Cody presently wrestles for Impact Wrestling, ROH and is the current GFW (Global Force Wrestling) champion as well as the NEW (Northeast Wrestling) Heavyweight champion.
Author’s take
The debate regarding the definition and practical application of intellectual property rights in pro-wrestling is one of the more sensitive issues that’s plagued our industry for years but has come to the fore only recently.
With the current hot topic being the war of the usage rights of the Hardys Broken gimmick, it’s refreshing to see that Cody Rhodes and his former employers still see eye-to-eye…for now.
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