It’s been almost 10 years, and you still can’t say the words “The Last Jedi” on the internet without catching a little crap. Some people love it, some people hate it. Then even more people hate it. It’s a vicious cycle that not only comes back every few months but also, according to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy herself, changed the course of Star Wars history as we know it.
Basically, everyone’s got an opinion. And most of those opinions have equal weight. But when you’re one of the biggest WWE superstars of the modern era, that opinion holds a little extra weight. Recently, the American Nightmare himself, Cody Rhodes, commented on a social media ranking of Star Wars movies and offered up his thoughts on why he loves The Last Jedi.
I love it. LOVE. But my reason is fairly personal and oddly wrestling related
When these legends come back, they’re not the same. Didn’t want Luke with dyed hair and an 8 pack doing flips…I got a broken old man with one last real punch in him. But it was a helluva punch. Kinda’…
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) May 4, 2026
To recap, Rhodes replied to an IGN ranking of Star Wars movies on May 4 that had The Last Jedi at number four. “Not bad! I’d swap 7 & 5 prob Love them ALL though,” he said. (The swap means Rhodes’ rankings would be Empire, New Hope, Return of the Jedi, The Last Jedi, Revenge of the Sith, Force Awakens, Rogue One, Solo, Phantom Menace, Clones, Rise of Skywalker.)
A user then replied, saying, “There’s no way you’re fine with Last Jedi being that high,” to which Rhodes dropped the above post, which says, “I love it. LOVE. But my reason is fairly personal and oddly wrestling related,” he wrote. “When these legends come back, they’re not the same. Didn’t want Luke with dyed hair and an 8 pack doing flips…I got a broken old man with one last real punch in him. But it was a helluva punch. Kinda’ like Funk. May the 4th be with you!”
(“Funk” is referring to wrestling legend Terry Funk, who rose to fame in the 1980s but made an epic comeback in the mid- to late 1990s when he was in his 50s. He passed in 2023.)
And, of course, in our opinion, Rhodes is right on the money here. Fans can argue back and forth about the treatment of Luke Skywalker in the Sequel Trilogy, but here are the facts. J.J. Abrams and the team in The Force Awakens made the choice to put Luke Skywalker in hiding. Rian Johnson in The Last Jedi then found a way to pay that off by allowing him to honor that decision but simultaneously use the Force to make a massive, non-violent impact on the Dark Side. An impact that cost him his life. We’d certainly call that one “helluva punch.”
We’re sure no one will want to argue about this in the comments.
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