WWE’s intention to reduce live events (house shows) in 2025 was addressed by TKO President Mark Shapiro earlier this month. Shapiro stated that the company “doesn’t need to carry these marginally profitable events.”
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes responded to a decision in an interview with Josh Martinez of Superstar Crossover.
“Pros and cons. Pro is more time for rest and recovery. Modern WWE with all the medical protocols that exist, in terms of to have the best nutrition, to have the mental clarity and focus to be dialed in physically, we still very much are a, I guess toxic to a degree, there is a vanity element to professional wrestling and sports entertainment. In terms of everyone’s preparation, that’s a good thing. In terms of being able to get that mental clarity and getting your time at home, but also be able to be locked in on work. To be able to get the best nutrition, the best recovery, especially.”
“The con for me is I only get better at wrestling by wrestling. That’s a con for me. How I can mitigate it is that I have the Nightmare Factory where we can wrestle and do things and train. Training for wrestling, I never believed in wrestling schools growing up because the only way you can really do wrestling is by wrestling in front of an audience. You have to do it in front of an audience. That will be a challenge for me because I feel like I’ve slid into the prime of my career and I feel really great, but I know if I take some steps back in terms of that, I’m going to have to mitigate it some way. I’m going to have to find, ‘How do I train for this if I’m not able to do Saturday-Sunday house shows heading into Monday Night Raw.’ I think the majority of the locker room and roster probably looks at it as a great thing, and from a company standpoint, business-wise, it makes the shows when they do come to your city more special versus just being a given. It’s mainly pro across the board, I just have to find a way to keep the wrestler in me wrestling.”
You can check out the interview below:
(quotes courtesy of Jeremy Lambert)
