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Cody Rhodes announces that his dog Pharaoh has passed away

Aaron Rift — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:54:06 +0000

In a post published to Instagram, Cody Rhodes announced that his dog Pharaoh has passed away. Cody stated the following…

“Huskies need a job.

P howled at the moon. When we thought he would be afraid of the older dogs we had, but instead ran into the living room and belly flopped on them. He patrolled the pool. He always tore up a plant when a stranger came into the backyard to let them know — ‘I’m crazy’ — and don’t come closer.

He got the best training and retained most of it — I’d call him a crisis dog. Whenever there was a crisis, there he was.

He put his nose under my arm in the truck…every time. He was always with us, and when my world got turned upside down…he sat outside with me looking at the Texas stars until the sky started to shift, and he pressed his head against me firmly in a way that let me know he understood.

It goes without saying, he was a good boy. My best man.

At the first ‘All In,’ when Starrcast did its first convention, I’ll never forget him walking into the Hyatt in Schaumburg and us seeing the lobby overtaken by fans & wrestling shirts from front door to the back.

We walked by the lobby bar and they had a special menu posted with ‘Pharaoh’s fries,’ but the thing I remember most is how the fans kinda’ parted the sea for him as he walked through…they snapped selfies and chanted his name like he was making an entrance on TV or something, ha.

He’d go on to do multiple charity meet/greets for some of the best shelters in the country. He was a Chewy champion. Mattel fig! Opponent of The Rock.

I knew he was a true alpha when he would just let Yeti bite his face. He was part of the Rhodes’ wrestling family. ‘The Siberian Nightmare,’ ha.

I’ve gotten off track, though…I said huskies needed a job, and I don’t think Pharaoh ever truly knew his.

That is until Liberty was born.

I scrolled back through my old pictures and there he is with her…almost every early photo…he’s just peeking into frame, or right beside her, or sternly looking through the lens.

His job was to be with her. Maybe he wanted to protect her.

As I said, he needed a job.

When you watch GOT one night late on TV and decide you want a little wolf pup, it would be fitting to say, ‘Your watch has ended,’ but I’d rather say the last thing I told you before you went to forever sleep:

You did your job.

We love you.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cody Rhodes (@americannightmarecody)

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Cody Rhodes comments on his interactions with The Butcher while “away from WWE”

Aaron Rift — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 18:51:03 +0000

It was reported that Andy Williams, known as The Butcher from his time in AEW and on the independent wrestling scene, passed away after suffering a medical emergency following a tag team match at Saturday night’s Enjoy Wrestling event in Pittsburgh, PA. While speaking to FoxNews.com, Cody reflected on being around for Butcher’s debut in AEW…

“When I was away from WWE, I actually — him and Blade (also known as Pepper Parks) and Bunny — we had recruited them to do this really fun debut. He came up under the ring and they beat me up, and I definitely didn’t get to spend near enough time with him as a person. But all the things you’re hearing about him in terms of how warm and charismatic and interesting — not a guy that needed the gig, he had another gig, and super cultured and intelligent. And again, The Butcher — you see this big, just the mustache and the tattoos and the muscles. Maybe if you had judged that book by its cover, you wouldn’t know how truly special, intelligent, artistic, and beautiful of a person that he was.

I didn’t get to be around him near enough, but I’m really glad I was part of bringing him into that moment and, I wish everyone around him thinking about them, and wish them the best. And they’re very much in my heart today. I told Brandi about that this morning and just such a shock, so young. Beautiful person, and he leaves behind multiple locker rooms of people that he touched, that all of them 100% have a good memory and a good story about him.”

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MR. TITO: With Labor Day Here Again, WWE Wrestlers Should Consider Unionizing Against the Greedy TKO Machine

Mr. Tito — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 04:22:42 +0000

According to Fightful.com reviewing court filings, during 2023, the WWE corporation paid around $195 million for wrestler compensation and that represented about 15% of the $1.29 billion in the company’s revenues.

Through 2025, now under TKO’s rule, the WWE earned $1.7 billion in revenues. If we apply that same 15% rule, the pro wrestlers should earn around $255 million.

Anyone care to bet me that they are NOT earning that?

As we saw in the news, multiple wrestlers were asked to take 50% paycuts. This prompted the New Day to ask for their releases and were granted them, as those longtime WWE employees and actual merchandise sellers were insulted at the notion of taking 50% off of contracts that TKO signed. Reportedly, one longtime wrestler did take the 50%, with some guessing Miz or another wrestler thinking that leaving the WWE would jeopardize his opportunities (LA Knight?) without his trademarked WWE name.

Meanwhile, TKO Executive Chair and CEO Ariel Emanuel received total compensation of $67.4 million while the CFO earned $23.1 million and the COO earned $42.6 million. What, they couldn’t take 50% paycuts themselves? Nick Khan, who is president/CEO of the WWE and also on the TKO board, made over $24 million during 2025.

And before you suggest that these “Chief” positions are doing such a great job, then why does TKO carry almost $5 billion in DEBT despite UFC and WWE having revenues pouring into their coffers? Also, why did the Endeavor corporation have so much debt that it needed Silver Lake to finance them and buy them?

In other words, WWE wrestlers are getting SCREWED on their network while TKO and WWE executives are pulling in the money.

Hell, Triple H is earning $2.8 million according to Sports Illustrated. He’s the Chief Content Officer who actually puts the shows together and then produces them live at the events as well. He’s putting in way more work than those sitting in cushy offices all day, and HHH has to be micro-managed by these TKO fools as well.

As we head into Labor Day, it’s time for WWE wrestlers to STAND UP and stop swallowing the turd sandwiches that WWE, with this TKO corporate daddies, keep serving them.

WWE wrestlers are the ones taking the bumps in the ring, getting thrown through tables, having to travel all over the country or world, work through injuries, be away from their families, and have to do countless charity and personal appearances for TKO and WWE. Furthermore, they are silenced from expressing themselves personally and WWE/TKO owns all of the copyrights that the wrestlers help build up as a solid brand.

What wrestlers don’t realize is that they have all of the power. If each walked out and refused to do a televised wrestling event, which puts the Netflix, USA Network, and ESPN+ deals in jeopardy, the WWE could be in trouble with each of those companies with those television deals. Further, wrestlers need to understand how MAD fans are at TKO right now for price gouging them on live events and merchandise while feeding them to the price gouging streaming wolves with Netflix and ESPN/Disney. If wrestlers were to walk out today, fans would back them because they’ve been pissed at TKO’s corporate antics for the past 2 years.

Yet, the wrestlers are afraid to stand up to these corporate cowards.

And I’m full aware of what the WWE did to keep labor unions away during the Vince McMahon era. Vince liked to push one wrestler really hard, such as Hogan and then Austin/Rock, then Cena, and the eventually Roman Reigns along with supporting others like the Undertaker. By coddling up to the top person on the card, Vince knew that he could keep drawing if the top guy was loyal and therefore made the rest of the roster expendable. Without Vince, Roman Reigns remains the highest paid guy followed by Cody Rhodes, who happens to be represented by WME which serves as an agency where several TKO executives still work as agents (Ari Emanuel, for example, represents Pat McAfee personally).

For a union to actually form in the WWE, they would need the top main eventers to be willing to support the union. Hulk Hogan wouldn’t, as he stooged out Jesse Ventura to Vince McMahon during 1986 (right before Wrestlemania 2) when Jesse tried to suggest that wrestlers unionize and hold up Wrestlemania 2 to accomplish this feat. Once that ended, Vince further demolished the territory competition to make his promotion the #1 in the land and made it difficult to argue. Then, Austin, Rock, Triple H, and Undertaker with John Cena later playing the game came along and accepted being loyal main eventers for Vince.

Personally, I’ve always argued that wrestlers should desire to join the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) which is now called SAG-AFTRA. WWE wrestlers are clearly following scripts both in their promos and how matches are laid out with backstage producers. They are also taking prepared stunts. They are televised each week on Netflix and USA Network, along with PLEs now on ESPN+. WWE has been long established as a form of “entertainment” with an court precedent in place when state athletic commissions tried to regulate pro wrestling during the late 1980s.

Admittedly, there are economic consequences of unions, historically speaking…

– Unions work in strength in numbers, even with a portion of those numbers are weaker performers.

– Pay for union workers is often due to seniority and not just merit or performance.

– If current workforce shrinks, then ability to fund benefits, such as retirements and pensions on a pay-as-you-go system becomes a major financial problem.

– Labor stoppages, such as strikes or lockouts could occur when a contract is up or nearly up or if there’s a new disagreement between the parties.

Right now, both the NBA and NFL split revenues almost halfway between the ownership and players. 50%, compared to wrestlers earning 15% on contracts that can be cancelled at any point. NBA contracts are fully guaranteed, while NFL contracts are mostly guaranteed and are often subject to renegotiation if a player outperforms their current deal.

One could argue “well, if the wrestlers get paid more and take in more revenues, then TKO will raise its prices”.

Great argument… BUT TKO IS ALREADY RAISING THEIR PRICES!!!!!!

They’ve been gouging fans HARD over the past 3 years… Know what is causing them to price gouge? Total greed, as top executives are pulling in 8 figures a year and laughing as the wrestlers take the bumps on their behalf.

It’s now or never, WWE wrestlers. If you want to be pawns for the WWE brand that TKO wants you to be, then keep working under the current terms and they’ll pick you off individually one-by-one. Otherwise, take ownership of yourselves as a locker room and hold greedy TKO executives accountable.

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ

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Wrestling author suggests idea of Cody Rhodes relaunching The Four Horsemen

Aaron Rift — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 18:17:46 +0000

Wrestling author David Shoemaker appeared on Cheap Heat with Peter Rosenberg to promote his book, Why Hulk Hogan Matters. During the discussion, Shoemaker discussed Cody Rhodes potentially turning heel in WWE…

“Isn’t Cody exactly the dude who should relaunch the Four Horsemen? Cody with just some other dudes in suits exactly what you want to see from him as a heel?

You don’t have to be a heel. You don’t have to be like, ‘I hate fans now.’ You just have to be like, ‘I’m a dude that dresses really well and is very proud of myself, and my friends here agree,’ and you’re functionally a villain. For the purposes of pro wrestling, you’re a heel.

By the way, that gets lost so much in these conversations where I’m like, ‘Oh, blah blah blah, so is so-and-so going to turn heel?’ And inevitably 50% of the response is, ‘There’s no face and no heel anymore. This is modern.’

The pro wrestling match—is a centuries-old tradition. Multitudes of decades old in a modern sense. And, like, they tell stories in a certain way. And part of the way you tell stories is, like, there’s a babyface and there’s a heel, you know? And, like, when the bell rings.”

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Cody Rhodes: “The neck tattoo I would widely consider the greatest regret of my life”

Aaron Rift — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:41:23 +0000

While speaking on his What Do You Wanna Talk About podcast, WWE star Cody Rhodes discussed his neck tattoo. Here is what Cody had to say…

“I stand by the fact that I think the work is great and the artist is great, but I also will reveal, as I think I’ve revealed on this pod before… The neck tattoo I would widely consider the greatest regret of my life. You know what? I’ll live with it, you know, I’m not going to try to get it removed and we’re going to rock this till the very end.

But what I thought, and then when I saw it and it was in my jaw and it was so big, my life changed looking in a mirror, If my dad was to come back to life, he would not say ‘Congrats.’ He would lose his shit. ‘You’ve ruined yourself.'”

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Cody Rhodes addresses the online controversy surrounding AJ Styles’ son

Aaron Rift — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:23:48 +0000

WWE star Natalya recently commented on Avery Styles, son of AJ Styles, and his desire to “pay his dues” after seeing him wrestle at a GCW event. Wrestler Arik Cannon criticized Avery on Twitter/X, claiming he avoided helping with the show, which prompted Styles to defend his son and say Cannon “sounds a jealous douche.”

Cannon later responded by sharing photos of Cody Rhodes and WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart helping to clean up after events. Cody addressed Cannon’s post with the following message…

“Arik my friend no shade intended, but my outlook… Avery is 19. His Father was paying dues and making sacrifices throughout that young man’s youth that some people may never understand. When you’re the family holding down the fort. To simplify… he already set up the fn’ chairs.”

pic.twitter.com/UcjzaA45II

— Arik Cannon (@arikcannon) August 10, 2026

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Longtime wrestling analyst thought CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes from WWE SummerSlam was “very bad”

Aaron Rift — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 14:06:38 +0000

As seen during the 2026 WWE SummerSlam Saturday PLE, CM Punk defeated Cody Rhodes to retain his WWE Championship. Longtime wrestling analyst Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline.com was critical of the match as he issued the following comments…

“I thought this CM Punk-Cody Rhodes match was very bad. I thought this was the worst match involving a major championship since John Cena had that run where he was a heel and all of his matches were bad.

Like, this match was so slow. The crowd was dead until, like, the last five minutes or so. CM Punk, for reasons I cannot explain, just like Brock Lesnar, like 30 seconds in, this guy’s purple. And then he decides, ‘I’m going to do some crazy sh*t.’ He did, I’m pretty sure, the worst moonsault I have ever seen in a main event match on the main roster from any company. I mean, it was so horrible.

And don’t yell at me. This is just on the internet. They have determined CM stands for ‘Cannot Moonsault.’

They had another spot where Cody went for a Cody Cutter. I think CM Punk was supposed to dropkick him out of midair, but he sort of did a falling Yakuza kick, which the announcers covered for by claiming that his leg hurt.

He also tried a flying elbow off the post through Cody and the table, which I couldn’t even believe he conceived of trying. Cody moved. He landed on his feet on the table and then went flying.

I don’t know how he survived the match. I mean, even like there was one spot at the end where Cody did a Cross Rhodes. It was the slowest Cross Rhodes I’ve ever seen in my life. And just like, I mean, this was a world title match in 2026.

Dude, I just can’t. I cannot sit here and say that this match was good. I cannot do that with a clear conscience.”

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Cody Rhodes says “get the f*ck out of here” in response to people that don’t think The Miz is a good wrestler

Aaron Rift — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 20:10:55 +0000

While speaking to Chad Gable on his What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, Cody Rhodes noted that wrestlers will inevitably experience highs and lows, but past success proves they can find that success again. Cody stated the following…

“It ain’t easy to get their attention. It’s definitely not easy to get ours, right? Or this room. All we do is wrestling all the time. You’ve done that multiple times in your career.

This is what I tell anyone who has ups and downs. It’s wins and losses, highs and lows. If you did it once, you can do it again.

I hate using him as an example, but The Miz is the greatest example.

Anytime somebody sits with me and tells me, ‘Oh, I don’t think Miz is a good wrestler,’ get the f*ck out of here. You, get the f*ck out of here.

It’s all different types —it’s fun, variety, entertainment. It’s the wrestling-wrestling. If you can do it, and you did it once, you can do it again, and you have done it multiple times.”

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CM Punk explains why a heel turn in 2026 wouldn’t work

Aaron Rift — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:40:48 +0000

While speaking to Radio WWE, WWE Champion CM Punk explained why a heel turn in 2026 wouldn’t work…

“The good guy, bad guy thing, I think, is decided by the audience. It’s their perspective. I think I am an incredible black hat that people love so much, it wouldn’t work. I’d still get cheered. It would defeat the purpose. It’s a real double-edged sword at this point.”

CM Punk is a great babyface and makes a great heel! We asked @CMPunk if he prefers to be one of the other in the @wwe #wwe #wrestling #prowrestling #cmpunk pic.twitter.com/srNzyug2UA

— siriusxmwwe (@siriusxmwwe) July 30, 2026

Punk is scheduled to defend his title against Cody Rhodes at WWE SummerSlam 2026. At this time, both men are considered to be babyface characters.

Footage of Cody Rhodes elbowing CM Punk after #WWESpringfield
That was definitely not an accident
There was no Danhausen to save the day this time

: @BrockLesnarGuy pic.twitter.com/YCjIgm3ebt

— Teffo (@Teffo_01) July 31, 2026

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Cody Rhodes doesn’t want Tom Brady getting involved in his storylines

Aaron Rift — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 12:59:44 +0000

While appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Cody Rhodes commented on the possibility of NFL legend Tom Brady having a match in WWE. Here is what Cody had to say…

“Here’s my warning. Tom doesn’t need a warning. He’s a super athlete. A lot of the celebrities and people who want to cross into wrestling, when we do some sort of merging of worlds, I feel like they always get involved in my stuff.

Travis Scott, Pat McAfee—they always get right in on what I’m doing. If you come in, you don’t have to mess with me. You can pick other people to mess with. Also, not everyone has to fully wrestle. You know, you can come to the show.”

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