Cody Rhodes Reveals How Much Longer He'll be a Full-Time Wrestler

WWE Champion Cody Rhodes continues to postpone his retirement from professional wrestling.

The American Nightmare has changed his mind multiple times in recent years about when he'll hang up the boots and call it a career. While a member of the AEW roster, Rhodes revealed that he intended to retire at the age of 40 from in-ring competition and shift into a backstage role.

Years later, Rhodes is 40 and is a three-time WWE Champion. It seems pretty clear he doesn't intend to slow down anytime soon. But he does have a timetable of when he'll stop being a full-time competitor.

Cody Rhodes' next WWE contract will be his last as a full-time competitor

Rhodes was a recent guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet. When asked how much longer he intends to wrestle, Rhodes admitted he doesn't want to put a timetable on it anymore, but admitted the next contract he signs will be his last as a full-time wrestler.

"I don't have a number on it anymore. I know that the next deal I do will be my last, as far as a full-time wrestler," Cody Rhodes revealed. "I think I want -- you know sometimes, when you take things, and I think I'm doing this right now, and you use them to your advantage, where you're like, I need to do this for this, but really it might be for you.

"We talked about Liberty earlier. She's known nothing but WrestleMania main events. She literally thinks what I do for a living is WrestleMania. That's what I do for a living. Leilani is only six months old, so in my mind, I owe her a few more of these. That's silly. That's me doing it for me, or maybe it is a little bit of both. I'll know. And you know who else will know? The audience. They'll know. What do the kids say? I don't even know if the kids say this anymore: washed?

"I'll know, because your mind is your greatest asset as a pro wrestler... I want to capture their imagination the best I can, and when you have the experience I have. And again, got to wrestle my angel on my shoulder last year, John Cena. I get to wrestle the devil on my shoulder this year in Randy Orton. If I can't do anything with that, well then I'm a real dick. I'm sorry, if I can't do anything with that, then I'm selfish. Then I'm not here to give back to the industry, so I need to do that as well."

Will Orton be booed for blooding Cody Rhodes on SmackDown?

Friday night's episode of SmackDown saw the contract signing between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton for their WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 42. The segment ended with a supposed Orton heel turn, where he bloodied Rhodes and finished it off by cracking him with a vicious steel chair shot.

It's clear the intention behind this segment was to build sympathy for the champion heading into WrestleMania 42 and firmly place The Viper in the heel role next month at the Showcase of the Immortals. So far, it seems to be having the opposite effect.

.@RandyOrton, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!! pic.twitter.com/JIiwojFHy5
— WWE (@WWE) March 14, 2026

Orton's actions last night on SmackDown were not only cheered in the arena but were almost universally praised online. Fans longing for the days of "2009 Randy Orton" were thrilled to see the actions of The Legend Killer on Friday evening.

This will be the second year in a row that WWE has attempted to turn one of its popular babyfaces heel to oppose Rhodes at the Showcase of the Immortals. It didn't work last year, as the Las Vegas crowd was largely behind John Cena. With the company returning to Vegas for WrestleMania 42, it certainly appears we are heading towards a similar scenario this year.

As the old saying goes, those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.