The original talent scout of the Divas era

If you walked into a sports bar in 2009 and told the guy next to you that the skinny kid in the matching trunks with Ted DiBiase Jr. would eventually become the face of a billion-dollar industry, he would have laughed so hard he’d have blown domestic light beer out of his nose. Back then, Cody Rhodes was the definition of a 'create-a-wrestler' with the default settings. He was legacy glue, a second-generation hand who seemed destined to be the answer to a trivia question about who Triple H beat during a random episode of Raw.

But apparently, Layla El saw something the rest of us missed. The former WWE Women’s Champion recently dropped a bombshell on the podcast circuit, claiming she dated Cody Rhodes specifically because she knew he was going to be a star. Forget the Performance Center or the legendary scouting eye of Jim Ross. Apparently, the best way to predict a future WrestleMania main eventer was to look at who Layla was grabbing lunch with in the catering hall during the height of the Guest Host era.

It is a bold claim, mostly because it frames a relationship as a long-term investment strategy. Usually, you date someone because they make you laugh or they aren’t weird about your cat. Layla is out here operating like a venture capitalist in a sparkly skirt. She saw the 'Dashing' gimmick, the mustache that looked like it was drawn on with a Sharpie, and the Stardust face paint, and she reportedly thought, 'Yeah, this guy is going to finish the story in 2024 and then hold the title through May 2026.'

Revisionist history or genuine foresight?

We have to look at the Cody Rhodes of fifteen years ago to appreciate how insane this take actually is. This was the guy who spent a significant portion of his career as a mid-card heater. He was talented, sure, but he was surrounded by guys like Randy Orton and John Cena who sucked all the oxygen out of the room. When Cody was doing the 'Dashing' gimmick, handing out grooming tips to the 'ugly' fans in the front row, nobody was thinking about him as the next Hulk Hogan. They were thinking about whether or not his knee pads matched his boots.

Layla claims she saw the drive. She saw the work ethic. And honestly, maybe she did. Cody has always been the guy who cared more than everyone else. While other guys were happy to collect a paycheck and sit in the middle of the card, Cody was the guy who would go to the writers with five different ideas for a segment that was only supposed to last ninety seconds. He was always 'on,' even when the material he was given was absolute garbage. That is the kind of thing you notice when you are traveling 300 days a year on the road.

But let’s be real for a second: there is a high level of clout-chasing happening here. It is very easy to say you saw the greatness in someone once they are standing on a pedestal in front of 70,000 people in Las Vegas. It is a lot harder to say that when he is wearing gold face paint and hissing at Cosmic Wasteland members in 2015. If Layla had a tweet from 2011 saying 'This guy in the clear plastic face mask is the future of the business,' I would buy her a drink. Right now, it feels like someone claiming they bought Bitcoin at ten cents when they actually bought it yesterday.

The glow up that changed the industry

Cody’s transformation is the greatest 'glow up' in the history of professional wrestling. It is not just the neck tattoo, which still looks like a mistake made during a mid-life crisis, or the bleach-blonde hair. It is the aura. He went from being a guy who was happy to be there to being the guy the show is built around. After his successful defense against the Bloodline at WrestleMania 41 last month, he solidified himself as the undisputed king of this era. He has the suits, the private jets, and the kind of pyro budget that could power a small European nation for a week.

When Layla was around, Cody was still trying to find his voice. He was the son of a plumber who was trying to act like a prince. Now, he actually is the prince. The irony is that the version of Cody that Layla dated is almost unrecognizable from the man who walks down the aisle today. If you showed the 2009 version of Cody a picture of himself now, he would probably ask why he looks like a patriotic Ken doll who joined a motorcycle club. It is a testament to his sheer will that he bridged that gap.

However, we have to talk about the 'American Nightmare' fatigue. As much as we love the guy, the promos are starting to feel like they were written by a campaign manager for a swing-state senator. Everything is about the 'fans,' the 'journey,' and 'the soul of this business.' It is great, but it is also exhausting. At some point, you just want him to hit a Cross Rhodes and go home. Layla might have seen the star power, but she probably didn't foresee that his greatest enemy in 2026 would be his own tendency to talk for twenty minutes about how much he loves his dad.

The reality of the Diva era scouting

The Divas era was a weird time for the locker room. Relationships were everywhere, and often they were the only thing the office cared about when it came to the women's division. Layla and Michelle McCool (Lay-Cool) were the mean girls of the division, and they were genuinely entertaining. They had more personality in their pinkies than half the roster has in their entire bodies. For Layla to come out now and try to claim the 'scout' mantle is classic wrestling carny behavior, and I absolutely love it for her.

She is essentially saying she has 'diamond hands' on Cody Rhodes stock. She held through the Stardust dip. She held through the indie circuit run. She held through the 'All In' gamble. And now that the stock is at an all-time high, she is cashing in her chips at the 'I told you so' window. It is the kind of confidence you only get from someone who survived the era of pillow fights and bra-and-panties matches to become a respected veteran of the game.

Let’s not forget that Cody wasn’t exactly the only one with potential back then. There were plenty of guys who looked like 'the guy' who ended up doing nothing. Look at Jack Swagger or even Ted DiBiase Jr. himself. They had the look, the pedigree, and the push, but they lacked the internal engine that Cody has. Layla picking the right horse in that race is either a stroke of genius or a very convenient memory. Given how the business works, I’m leaning toward 75% convenience and 25% luck.

The 'I knew him when' phenomenon

Every time a wrestler hits the stratosphere, people crawl out of the woodwork to claim they were there for the first brick. We see it with Roman Reigns, we see it with Becky Lynch, and now we are seeing it with Cody. It is the ultimate flex in the wrestling world to say you knew the 'real' person before the character took over. Layla is just the latest to jump on the bandwagon, and while it makes for a great headline, it doesn't change the fact that Cody did the work himself.

The real tragedy here is that we never got a 'Dashing' Cody Rhodes and Lay-Cool alliance. Imagine the levels of narcissism and mirror-checking we could have had on SmackDown in 2010. They could have spent thirty minutes every Tuesday just talking about how much better they looked than the people in the audience. It would have been heat so nuclear it could have melted the ice caps. Instead, we got Cody doing segments with a paper bag over his head while Layla was winning titles. A missed opportunity for the ages.

The critical truth is that Cody’s current run is the result of him leaving the environment where Layla knew him. He had to go away to become what he is now. If he had stayed in that 2009-2015 bubble, he would still be a mid-carder wondering why his father’s shadow is so long. Layla might have seen the potential, but the WWE system at the time was designed to squash it. It took Cody betting on himself to prove her right, and that is a story that involves a lot more pain and rejection than a simple dating anecdote suggests.

In the end, Layla El gets to walk away with a great story and a bit of relevance in a week where the wrestling world is gearing up for AEW Double or Nothing. Cody Rhodes continues to be the most talked-about man in the industry, even when he isn’t the one talking. Whether she really saw the 'American Nightmare' in the eyes of a kid with a mustache or she’s just enjoying the view from the bandwagon, it doesn’t really matter. The story is finished, the checks are cleared, and Cody is the king. Just don’t expect Brandi Rhodes to send Layla a thank-you note for her scouting services anytime soon.