Cody Rhodes Says Even He Was Left in the Dark on WWE’s $1.6 Billion ESPN Deal

WWE’s $1.625 billion ESPN deal has fans doing the math — and not in a good way. Starting in 2026, Premium Live Events like WrestleMania and Royal Rumble will stream exclusively on ESPN’s new $29.99/month platform. That’s nearly triple the current Peacock price, and many longtime fans aren’t thrilled.

But it turns out even WWE’s top stars were blindsided by the move. In a new SportsCenter interview, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes revealed that the company kept the deal so tightly under wraps, not even he knew what was going on.

“Yeah. No, they don’t—You guys don’t trust us apparently. I wasn’t going to tell anyone, you know. I didn’t know. We were all put on standby.”

“Nick Khan and Triple H, they just gave me the Iggy. They said, ‘Hey, you know, I know you’re going to be on vacation, but just be ready. Just be ready. There’s something going to happen on Wednesday.’ And look at this—to be part of this family—what an honor.”

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Despite being the face of the company, Cody was left in the dark until right before the announcement. Still, once it was official, he made it clear he’s all-in on the ESPN move.

“I started doing my theory this weekend because I knew we were going to be moving our PLEs around. And the fact that we can now have, you know, the Royal Rumble, Money in the Bank—you mentioned—and of course our biggest event, WrestleMania, going to be on ESPN platforms—that’s the perfect match.”WWE is sports entertainment, and ESPN is the king of sports media—the one. So, it’s perfect.”

Cody also spoke on the internal vibe among talent. While fans are upset about the price hike, the locker room sees the deal as part of WWE’s ongoing surge.

“It wasn’t too long ago—again, Triple H and Nick Khan, who have been ushering in this era—they had us all together, brought this big talent meeting. And it was all about: WWE has broken every record that we ever had. We beat the Attitude Era. We beat the Golden Age of the ’80s.”

“But it’s not peaked yet. He wanted to keep climbing. We wanted to keep growing. And this [deal] is just a further extension of that. WWE is going to be at its very best—going to be trying all kinds of brand-new things—but also the same WWE you know and love… just on the biggest platform it could possibly be.”

So while the price jump to $29.99 may sting, WWE is treating this deal as the next chapter in its global takeover. And if Cody Rhodes didn’t even know it was coming, fans might want to brace for more curveballs ahead.