Cody Rhodes Explains His Love for the Winged Eagle WWE Championship, If He’ll Revive It

Cody Rhodes has been stirring up speculation on social media that, if and when he finally wins the WWE Championship, he’ll revive the classic “Winged Eagle” design the title had from 1988-98. Rhodes famously revived the classic Intercontinental Championship design in 2011 and first got fans buzzing about the “Winged Eagle” after he returned at WrestleMania 38 and announced his only goal was to finally win the world championship that had always eluded his family. He’ll finally get that chance at WrestleMania 39 this April now that he’s the winner of this year’s Men’s Royal Rumble. Shortly after his Rumble win, “The American Nightmare” once again posted a photo of the title.

Rhodes finally decided to clear the air on this week’s episode of The Bump. He admitted to being a fan of the design from his childhood but said no plans are in place for WWE to go back to the classic look if he wins the title.

What's the deal with @CodyRhodes and the WWE Winged Eagle Championship belt? 👀#WWETheBump pic.twitter.com/NBcfd1KVch

— WWE (@WWE) February 1, 2023

“Through my youth, the WWE that I was watching was really synonymous with the Winged Eagle. I think there’s a lot of people who love the Winged Eagle design, some people like the Big Eagle (the Attitude Era design) but the Winged Eagle was for me. Today’s design with the giant W is also incredibly special, it’s this walking billboard for the promotion, but it was just a pipe dream. I post that and I don’t want people to think I’m calling a shot, I don’t want people to think I’m going into business for myself. The reality is I was able to change the Intercontinental Championship once before, which seemed absurd. And if I’m able to make it to the finish line, biggest WrestleMania of all time, SoFi (Stadium) in Hollywood, if I’m able to get to the finish line and get my hands on these things that, like I’ve said, have eluded my family up until now, it would just kind of be a fun…maybe it’s just a pipedream. Maybe it’s just a thought, a glimmer, but maybe it’d be fun to say let’s just boil them down and bring back the Winged Eagle.”

While Roman Reigns is expected to defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber later this month, WWE is already advertising Reigns’ title defense against Rhodes at WrestleMania. Do you think they’ll bring back the classic title for Rhodes’ reign? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!