Cody Rhodes Says Ari Emanuel Didn’t Know Who He Was Before WrestleMania 40

Cody Rhodes recently revealed that TKO CEO Ari Emanuel didn’t know who he was until the night of WrestleMania 40. Rhodes made the admission in a feature article for the New York Times promoting Street Fighter, which releases this weekend. Rhodes noted that Emanuel, who is the head of Endeavor which acquired WWE in 2023 and merged it with the UFC into TKO, was unaware of who he was until WrestleMania 40 where he was the main eventer both nights and won the Undisputed WWE Championship from Roman Reigns.

The article notes that Rhodes signed with Emanuel’s WME talent agency a month after WrestleMania and that Emanuel hadn’t been aware of who he was before the PLE. SOon after, WME set up the meeting with Legendary that saw Rhodes get cast as Guile in Street Fighter. Rhodes said he wanted to “do right” by Emanuel and Nick Khan, noting, “They’ve told the town, ‘You’re a serious person,’ and that’s really helpful.”

Cody Rhodes has been one of the top stars in WWE since he returned at WrestleMania 38 and is now a three-time Undisputed WWE Champion. He and Reigns co-star in Street Fighter, which releases tomorrow (which means preview showings tonight).