In recent years, WWE has put a greater emphasis on creating its own superstars, but that does not mean that the company does not still keep tabs on the independent circuit. For every WWE Performance Center creation like Bron Breakker there is a indie sensation turned WWE talent such as Carmelo Hayes. While many of these prospective WWE superstars come to the company’s tryouts, when WWE does go out scouting, they do not have to reach far and wide. Much of this is thanks to many top WWE talents running their own wrestling schools, like Seth Rollins’s Black and Brave Wrestling Academy or Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling. Both of those schools have bred notable alumni as well, with NXT’s Nathan Frazer and Roxanne Perez graduating from Black and Brave and Reality of Wrestling, respectively.
Videos by ComicBook.com
WWE Scouts at Cody Rhodes’s Wrestling School
The next wrestler to leap from a WWE superstar’s wrestling school to the WWE itself could come from Cody Rhodes’s Nightmare Factory. Rhodes recently revealed that WWE sent a scout to a recent training session.
“We just had a scout from WWE come down, give them the hard talk on all the things that it takes. He was really impressed,” Rhodes told The Pulse. “That makes me feel good because that’s the whole point of getting this knowledge. I got this knowledge from guys that I mentioned. The whole point is passing it on and building the next generation.”
The Nightmare Factory officially opened its doors in 2020. Founded by Rhodes and AEW’s QT Marshall, this wrestling school was largely considered to be AEW’s unofficial training facility. Numerous graduates received matches on AEW Dark. Notable AEW stars like Jade Cargill and Anthony Ogogo both trained at the Nightmare Factory before making their televised debuts.
“The Nightmare Factory is the most fun that I have with all of sports entertainment or wrestling, outside of actually being out there in those moments with the fans,” Rhodes continued. “When you’re a beginner, that’s the best. You don’t have any bad habits, you don’t even know what the bad habits are. Everything is new. There is nothing instilled in you other than you love this, something caught your attention, and you want to do it. I really enjoy teaching that crop of youth.”
Rhodes wrestles every Monday on WWE Monday Night Raw.
