Cody Rhodes said on the Double Coverage Podcast that no wrestler has ever pitched to lose a championship, answering a rumor that he had asked to drop the WWE title to Drew McIntyre. Fightful reported the comments on November 1, and Cultaholic and TJR Wrestling both carried them.
The rumor traces to Bodyslam+, which Cultaholic says first reported that Rhodes and McIntyre had both pitched for McIntyre to win the title from Rhodes. Cultaholic wrote that the reports pointed to a Three Stages of Hell match on the January 9, 2026 episode of SmackDown, where McIntyre won the title, and to an earlier pitch tied to Wrestlepalooza 2025.
Rhodes said the story has stuck around longer than he expected. "There was a story that I had pitched to lose the title, and now I saw somebody referencing this, like eight months ago," he said, according to TJR Wrestling.
He then denied it in direct terms. "If you ever hear a story of a wrestler pitching to lose a title, you should know right out of the gate they're lying," Rhodes said on the podcast, per Cultaholic.
Rhodes also explained why he sees the idea as backwards. "No wrestler has ever said, 'Yeah, I need to lose the title.' My gosh, that's the meal ticket," he said. Fightful wrote that Rhodes described the title as a wrestler's primary earning potential, which is why, in his telling, no one gives it up on their own.
Cultaholic added that Rhodes criticized wrestling discourse on social media, arguing that stories like this one are built for engagement and do not reflect real backstage conversations. Fightful noted that he pointed to platforms such as X as where the claims live.
It is not yet known whether Bodyslam+ or McIntyre will respond to the denial. Neither has been quoted in reports of the interview. As it stands, Rhodes' on-the-record position is that the pitch story is false, and he has said so in his own words.
