It's a mighty tall task to say that anyone in wrestling these days could transcend the business. In other words, the days of WWE or another promotion building a star as big as The Rock and bigger than wrestling in general, is likely long gone.
That said, if there was one person who could do it, Eric Bischoff believes it could be an interesting, somewhat unexpected star.
The co-host of the 83 Weeks podcast recently spoke to the It’s Our House Podcast and when asked if anyone could possibly ‘transcend’ the pro wrestling business, after some hesitation and a warning that he's not sure it's possible in this day and age, he named Cody Rhodes.
He noted, “If I was in Las Vegas and I had one $100 bill, and I was forced to place a bet on one person – I put it on Cody Rhodes”. Bischoff went on to explain:
“Okay. I think when you talk about somebody who has the potential to transcend the business, that means to become a bigger star, or at least a star outside of the wrestling business as inside of the wrestling business.”
Bischoff said that Cody reminds him a bit of John Cena in that he's everywhere. As Cena was rising through the ranks Bischoff said, “Everywhere you looked, including WWE, but outside of WWE, you would see John Cena."
Cody does appear a lot on behalf of AEW. He does far more interviews than any other star for AEW and he's synonymous with their successful startup. He reps the company whenever he gets the chance and he's involved in some of the bigger drawing moments, like Shaq's appearance on Dynamite this week.
Is Bischoff Right?
If you took a look at today's wrestling landscape and had to pick a personality that could move on to bigger things outside the ring, is Cody the guy? Certainly, The American Nightmare understands how to market himself. But, is he more marketable than a guy like Roman Reigns?