Cody Rhodes Comments on Top WWE Stars Being "Older Than Ever"

Many of the top names within WWE are wrestlers who have been around for a good amount of time. Between the two men's world title matches at WrestleMania 42, the youngest competitors are Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, both at 40 years of age. Orton and CM Punk are 45 and 47, respectively.

There was a chart last year showing the Attitude Era compared to today, and the average age of the top names from those periods. Today sees an average of 41.5, while the year 2000 had an average of 32.3. There are many reasons for this, but it has become a massive talking point among fans that WWE needs to push younger stars.

Cody Rhodes' comment on top stars age

WWE Champion Cody Rhodes appeared on The Breakfast Club and was asked about the WWE roster being "older than ever," to which he compared it to previous eras of the company.

“Well it goes in phases. So in like the golden 80s, it was, we used to joke, wrestler prime for the man was 35 to 42. That’s in the golden 80s, and that’s because they needed all that experience psychologically. They worked, they did this town to town, the live crowds are everything, how do you work with a live crowd?"
Cody Rhodes

Rhodes continues on to say,

"That now has cycled back because a few years ago they brought in, it was what I’d say is like all freshmen on a varsity team. There’s this famous picture of me and CM Punk and Matt Cardona, and we’re all babies, and we had won the big titles, but we didn’t have a clue, really at that point. We didn’t have that experience. So now I think you’re getting back into where you’ve got, I know exactly who we’re talking about here. Roman, me, Punk, Randy, the main events of WrestleMania. I just like to say it’s a very experienced crew.”
Cody Rhodes

Younger stars coming up within WWE

While there is a complaint that many of the top stars in WWE are older names, the company is working on the roster's future by developing talent lower on the card and through brands such as NXT and Evolve.

Most of NXT and Evolve fit the solution of creating stars out of younger talent, but specifically looking at the main roster, there are names such as Dominik Mysterio, Bron Breakker, Je'Von Evans, Roxanne Perez, Carmelo Hayes, and countless others who are being pushed and will eventually be some of the top names within WWE.