During an appearance on Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, Cody Rhodes talked about the changes to WWE’s developmental system over the years.
On the current system provided through NXT and the Performance Center, the Undisputed WWE Champion said:
Today, they’ve got it all mapped out really well. They’ve got exactly what you mentioned. They’ve got agility. They’ve got multiple rings, including one that has an extra layer of pad and bounce if you’re going to try big high spots. They’ve got Shawn Michaels. Again, we’re talking about probably the greatest in the ring ever. So that’s your head coach. How could you not be good?
The system they have down there with the Performance Center now is designed for the NIL athlete because they’re used to it. ‘I came from baseball, I came from football, I came from gymnastics.’ So they need all that. They need a room that’s a recovery suite. They need a full-blown weight room, which they have. They need all that.
Rhodes noted the difference with his training in OVW in 2006, which was more self-reliant by contrast.
When I came up, you were just doing it yourself, which I liked because you found like-minded people. I remember my whole class of coming up from OVW, but the system now, it’s a lot healthier. A lot healthier to get everybody ready.
Rhodes defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against a man who similarly came up in the “old” developmental system when he faces Randy Orton to cap off the first night of WrestleMania 42, emanating from Allegiant Stadium in Paradise (Las Vegas), Nevada on April 18 and April 19.
Source: F4WOnline