Brandi Rhodes has never been just one thing. Not even for a moment.
She was Brandi Alexis Reed—competitive figure skater, honors student, broadcast journalist. She was Eden Stiles—WWE’s voice in the ring, announcing names while burying her own dreams of competition. She became Brandi Rhodes—the wife, the wrestler, the executive, the enigma. The only thing constant? Her refusal to be sidelined. Not by men. Not by the industry. Not by the rules.
And now, more than a decade into her wrestling odyssey, she stands at the edge of legacy—not just as Cody Rhodes’ partner in life, but as a singular force in professional wrestling’s twisted, glittery warzone.
From Ice to Ink: The Backstory Nobody Saw Coming
Before the entrance music, before the promos and pyro, Brandi Reed was slicing through ice rinks in suburban Michigan, a competitive figure skater from age four through seventeen. That world taught her precision, performance, and poise. But she walked away in college, trading toe loops for textbooks.
She studied broadcast journalism at the University of Michigan—on a full ride, mind you—then took a hard pivot to Miami, earned a master’s degree, and got her start in television news. She could’ve been the next Soledad O’Brien. Instead, she stepped into the wrestling world with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer in stilettos.
WWE: Finding Her Voice… Then Leaving It Behind
WWE first came calling in 2011, and Brandi was signed to developmental. Her early run in FCW was unremarkable on paper—ring announcing gigs on Superstars, NXT, even SmackDown. A single battle royal appearance, and then, just as quickly, she was gone.
But wrestling, like gravity, pulls the right people back. In 2013, she returned—this time under the name “Eden”—and became the voice behind SmackDown and Main Event, eventually stepping in for Lilian Garcia on Raw. She was polished, composed, damn near perfect. But she wasn’t satisfied.
In 2016, days after her husband Cody asked for his release, Brandi did the same. The microphone wasn’t enough. She wanted the ring.
Independent Grind: The Road Less Velvet
She hit the indies hard. Not with the grace of a natural, but with the hunger of someone who knew she had something to prove. She wrestled Jordynne Grace, Tessa Blanchard, Viper, Bea Priestley—names who lived in suplexes and submissions. Brandi didn’t just survive; she adapted. She got better.
At Impact Wrestling, she debuted alongside Cody in 2016 and made waves with a brief but impactful run. But the honeymoon didn’t last—corporate squabbles over outside media appearances cut the cord. Brandi split from TNA on her own terms, as she always did.
Ring of Honor gave her a stage. Stardom gave her validation. In Japan, she joined Oedo Tai, defeated Natsu Sumire, and wrestled Io Shirai with a broken collarbone. That’s not resilience. That’s spite turned into performance art.
AEW: Suits, Skirts, and Steel Chairs
In 2019, Brandi Rhodes became the most powerful woman in wrestling.
AEW wasn’t just a promotion. It was a mission statement, a rebellion against the machine. And as Chief Brand Officer, Brandi stood front and center—on camera, behind scenes, in boardrooms. She wasn’t just the boss’s wife. She was the boss. The first Black woman to hold an executive position in a major North American wrestling company.
And then she did something wild: she got in the ring.
Her AEW in-ring debut came at Fight for the Fallen, where she defeated Allie with the help of Awesome Kong. What followed was one of the most divisive stints in AEW’s short history—The Nightmare Collective. A faction built on horror movie aesthetics and experimental storytelling, it bombed hard. Fans hated it. Critics buried it. Brandi bailed.
But failure never defined her. It refined her.
She came back as a presence—managing Cody, guiding The Natural Nightmares, forming The Nightmare Sisters with Allie, and getting elbow-deep in storylines that ranged from deeply personal to absurdly entertaining. She got in Shaq’s face. She slapped him with water on national TV. She brawled with Jade Cargill. She nearly threw hands with Paige VanZant. She was never just a valet—she was the flame to Cody’s powder keg.
And then, in 2022, she was gone again.
Just like that.
WrestleMania XL: The Silent Return
Two years later, at WrestleMania XL, the Rhodes family returned to the grandest stage—and this time, Cody won it all. And who was right there with him, stepping into the ring for the celebration, a silent phoenix wrapped in history?
Brandi.
She didn’t need a promo. Her presence said everything.
She had done what so few ever do—left the business on her terms, reappeared only when the moment called for it, and carried with her the weight of being first in so many rooms. First Black female announcer at WrestleMania. First woman of color to compete at Wrestle Kingdom. First African-American woman executive in major North American wrestling.
Her name won’t show up in lists of best matches or five-star classics. But Brandi Rhodes rewrote the job description for what a woman in wrestling can be. Performer. Executive. Mother. Disruptor.
What Comes Next?
Right now, she’s a question mark with eyeliner. She hasn’t signed with WWE full-time. She’s not locked into AEW. She’s still running Confection Swimwear, still starring in reality shows, still standing next to the man who just finished his own “American Nightmare” story arc.
But make no mistake—Brandi Rhodes is not an accessory.
She’s not just behind the curtain.
She’s the one stitching it. Burning it. And if you give her a mic and a pair of boots again?
Don’t blink.
Because Brandi doesn’t wait for your permission. She makes the rules. Then walks right through them in heels.
