Cory?! ESPN makes huge botch about WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes is the current Undisputed WWE Champion and possibly one of the most popular pro wrestlers on the planet. However, ESPN made a mistake about The American Nightmare on national television over the weekend.

ESPN and WWE agreed to a five-year partnership back in August for exclusive rights to Premium Live Events in the United States. As part of the deal, the network has promoted upcoming events on their shows, including during college football games.

On Saturday's game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and Iowa State Cyclones, play-by-play announcer Roy Philpott encouraged people to tune in for Crown Jewel: Perth. Philpott promoted the main event match between Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins, but he mistakenly called him "Cory" Rhodes.

"Don't forget WWE Crown Jewel, live from Perth in Western Australia, next Saturday, October 11 at 8 a.m. Eastern. Catch it all on the new ESPN app. Cory Rhodes to battle Seth Rollins in a WWE Crown Jewel Championship match," Philpott said.

While it was a definite mistake, it was not intentional. Roy Philpott is a football analyst, and not everyone knows or follows the WWE. Nevertheless, the partnership got off to a rocky start after an ESPN analyst gave Wrestlepalooza, the first PLE on the network, a grade of C.

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Cody Rhodes puts over Bron Breakker in ESPN interview

As part of WWE's partnership with ESPN, Cody Rhodes did a media tour on the network before Wrestlepalooza. Rhodes appeared on Unsportsmanlike and called Bron Breakker the future of the company.

"I love Bron Breakker, and he's not gonna like me saying this. But I'm glad you talked to him, because Bron Breakker is, I didn't think this at first, and I don't mean this with any disrespect, I do think it now though, he's the future of WWE. He's definitely someone that we're positioning to be there as we go," Rhodes said. [H/T WrestlePurists on X]

Rhodes added that he'll likely put over Breakker at some point in his career. It was also not the first time The American Nightmare has praised the potential of the second-generation star.

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Edited by JP David