Cody Rhodes has a pretty good theory about why WWE’s legendary WrestleMania parties disappeared. Apparently, somewhere along the way, the private celebration started feeling a little too much like another wrestling appearance.
Speaking on Ebro, Laura, Rosenberg, Rhodes was asked about the elaborate parties WWE used to throw around WrestleMania. Peter Rosenberg remembered attending one packed with ice sculptures and other over-the-top decorations, which led to the obvious question — what happened to them?
Before getting to that answer, Cody remembered what he considers the absolute peak of the WrestleMania party era. Somehow, it involved himself and Santino Marella holding an actual bodybuilding competition called “Musclemania,” with The Undertaker calling out their poses.
“There’s two things that happened, and one I’m directly related to, and I don’t think this caused the end of it, but I’d say it was the peak of the WrestleMania parties. And that was an event that we did called the Musclemania, where me and Santino Marella at the party did a full-blown bodybuilding show.”
Things somehow got even better when Linda McMahon realized Cody was basically playing the bad guy in the competition and decided to get involved.
“The Undertaker called out the poses, and Linda McMahon, who I loved, realized the energy in the room, that I was the bad guy in the thing, and gave me this big double thumbs down. And it was peak party. This event happened, everyone celebrated, and then the party kind of ended.”
Cody doesn’t actually blame Musclemania for killing the WrestleMania party, though. His explanation is much simpler — too many people started getting access, and something that once felt like a private gathering for people within wrestling gradually turned into more of a meet-and-greet. Once that atmosphere started disappearing, Cody believes the parties did too
“Wrestling’s so secretive, right? And now we try not to be secretive. We’re not trying to insult anyone or anything of that nature, but there is a real secret to what we do, and a fraternity and a sorority to it all. And it was becoming more of a, like, a meet-and-greet kind of, and I think that’s where it went away. I think it’s hard now to do one.”
That doesn’t mean WWE wrestlers stopped partying together. According to Cody, the real gatherings just became considerably less public — and if you know where the tour buses are parked, that’s apparently where the fun is now.
“I think the real parties are the ones that people don’t always realize, the tour buses. Those tour buses kind of circle up, and that’s where you want to go.”
So the massive WrestleMania parties may be gone, but the stories from them clearly aren’t. A bodybuilding contest featuring Cody Rhodes and Santino Marella, judged by a thumbs-down-giving Linda McMahon while The Undertaker calls poses, is a pretty difficult party story to top.
Would you like to see WWE bring back the old-school WrestleMania parties, or are some things better kept behind the tour buses? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
