Cody Rhodes shares surprising statement about WWE NXT

Cody Rhodes and the NXT go way back. The current Undisputed WWE Champion has worked with the brand over the years and is known as a veteran who regularly helps up-and-coming talents. However, he made a striking statement about WWE's third brand with an inside review of recent happenings.

The American Nightmare's NXT ties go back to the FCW developmental territory, where father Dusty Rhodes worked his final match with Cody and Dustin Rhodes in July 2010. The trio defeated Curt Hawkins, Trent Beretta, and Caylen Croft. Cody then served as mentor to Husky Harris, aka Bray Wyatt, on season two of the original NXT. Dusty's influence on NXT talents was immense, with names like Becky Lynch and Kevin Owens still praising him to Cody to this day.

Cody worked four matches for the modern NXT and six in the original version. Rhodes also appeared on the weekly show for various segments in October 2023 and June 2024.

Speaking to KSNV Channel 3 News in Las Vegas, Cody credited Head Coach Matt Bloom and Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels with much of their work with NXT. He then declared the brand no longer developmental.

"NXT, particularly with Baldo [Matt Bloom] and Shawn Michaels, as a talent and current main roster, NXT can be kind of intimidating. It's not really a developmental anymore. It's almost a grooming ground for these monsters who are going to come up and stand across the ring from you, and they've been trained by Shawn Michaels. We're definitely preparing the next generation of superstars and wrestlers. Their run on CW, I've been blown away. Really special stuff," Cody Rhodes said. [H/T Fightful]

Cody's last NXT match came at the TV tapings on January 30, 2014. He and his brother Dustin Rhodes, as Goldust, defeated The Ascension by DQ in the dark main event of the night.

WWE NXT titles to be defended next week

Next week's WWE NXT episode will feature fallout from this Sunday's Halloween Havoc. However, in a rare move, officials have already confirmed two matches for the show.

Axiom and Nathan Frazer will defend the NXT Tag Team Championship against Je'Von Evans and Cedric Alexander next week at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. The second match will see Heritage Cup Champion Charlie Dempsey go up against Lexis King.

Evans and Alexander were granted a title shot after their last tag team match was a loss. A-Town Down Under defeated them on September 24. King's last outing was a win as he defeated Oro Mensah in the Gentlemen's Duel on October 15, after they traded NXT singles wins.