Cody Rhodes Acknowledges ‘Irony’ in Being the Face of WWE During Ariel Helwani Interview

Cody Rhodes isn’t shying away from his place at the top of the WWE mountain — but he’s also not taking the position too literally. Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show this week, Rhodes was asked point-blank who the face of WWE currently is. His initial answer was characteristically humble: the face of the company is whoever each individual fan decides it to be. But Rhodes did ultimately acknowledge that he holds that distinction himself, while also noting he sees some irony in being the one to carry that mantle.

The irony angle is hard to ignore when you consider the full arc of Rhodes’ career. He spent years working to establish himself outside of WWE, building his reputation on the independent scene and later becoming a foundational piece of AEW — a promotion that was, in many ways, built as an alternative to WWE. His return to the company he left, and his subsequent ascent to its very top, is one of the more compelling storylines in recent wrestling history, and Rhodes himself appears to be fully aware of what that journey represents.

Rhodes has been WWE’s Undisputed Champion and the central figure in some of the company’s biggest recent storylines, including his long-running rivalry with Roman Reigns that culminated at WrestleMania 40. For a performer who once felt compelled to leave to find his ceiling, arriving back as the unquestioned standard-bearer of the industry’s biggest promotion is, as he put it, genuinely ironic — and genuinely earned.