During a recent appearance on the “Gabby AF” podcast, Cody Rhodes commented on the mindsets that WWE’s new recruits are bringing to their work.
In recent years, WWE has been bringing in recruits via its NIL program. Some of these names include Bron Breakker, Tiffany Stratton and others.
Rhodes said, “I love the athletes that we pick up because they are, sometimes, the ones that are just there to do a job. They have an athlete mindset of, ‘I have to do all the work.’ They have it ingrained him them. Tiffany Stratton is a great example of this gymnast turned sports entertainer. You can see it’s in her blood, she wants it. If that can happen on a regular basis. Like Jacob (Henry), he’s such a super athlete. To want to do this, that can be beneficial to the wrestling business.”
He continued, “We can all throw a superkick, but not everybody can squat 600 pounds and pick the Big Show up over their heads like John Cena used to do. I’m putting that all on Jacob as he goes. It’s good to have athletes on that level. I love having artists and art minded people, but I also love the combination of real, true and blue athletes as well.”
During an appearance on the “Angle Podcast” prior to WWE SummerSlam 2024, former WWE Women’s Champion Bayley revealed that winning the title was not her goal when she returned to WWE TV with Damage CTRL. She said,
“No, this was never the goal. IYO SKY becoming champion was the goal. Dakota Kai becoming champion was the goal. It was weird, I was talking to people when I was pitching for this, there were videos that I did and promos that I wrote that was like, ‘I’m not here to be a champion. I’ve done all those things. I couldn’t care less about those things. What I’m here to do is for them to feel that, for them to have their Mania moments, their Summer Slam moments, to become champion.’”
She continued, “Luckily we were able to do that, and this was kinda just like a little side piece, a little par that I wasn’t expecting, and that’s their fault. If they would’ve have turned on me, IYO could’ve still been champion, but here we are.”
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