Who Is Brandi Rhodes? Wrestler, Wife Of Ex-WWE Star Highlights 'WAGS Atlanta' Cast

When taking a look at the cast of E!’s “WAGS Atlanta,” Brandi Rhodes seems to be unlike anyone else on the show. She isn’t married to or dating a professional athlete that competes in what many would consider a traditional sport, and she’s even involved in the same industry as her husband.

Brandi is the wife of Cody Rhodes, a professional wrestler that first achieved stardom in WWE and has since turned himself into one of the biggest names on the independent wrestling scene. He’s the son of legendary wrestler Dusty Rhodes and the brother of current WWE superstar Dustin Rhodes.

But Brandi’s connection to professional wrestling doesn’t just come through her personal relationships. She’s a wrestler herself, competing in Ring of Honor, where Cody held the world championship for half of 2017.

“I consider my path to be very different than anyone else’s in wrestling and that’s kind of something I pride myself in,” Brandi told International Business Times. “I don’t take the path of others, at all, in any way. Everything that I’ve done in wrestling and hopefully going forward in entertainment has always been unique and genuine to who I am.”

An athlete for most of her life, Brandi competed in figure skating from the time she was four years old until she was 22. She trained at the Detroit Skating Club, which produced Olympians like Tara Lipinski and Todd Eldredge, eventually skating for the University of Michigan as a freshman.

Brandi joined WWE in 2011 while working as a model in Miami. The company used to often scout for female wrestlers—formerly called divas—through modeling agencies, and she was eager to start her career as an in-ring performer. Despite being sent to train at Tampa’s Florida Championship Wrestling, she would have to wait years before ever having her first match.

WWE ditched the idea of making Brandi a wrestler and turned her into a ring announcer. She became a regular ring announcer and backstage interviewer on WWE in 2014 under the name Eden Stiles, eventually leaving the company when her contract expired in May 2016.

Brandi’s departure from WWE came shortly after Cody asked for his release from the company. After spending a decade with WWE, the second generation wrestler felt he was being underutilized and wanted to see what he could do outside of the world’s No.1 wrestling company.

“I support and believe in him,” Brandi said of Cody’s decision to leave WWE. “So when he says to me, ‘Hey, I know in my heart this is the right thing,’ then clearly I’m going to go with that. I’ve never argued that. I know when someone is genuine, and I’m also a big believer in, if you aren’t happy with something or you’re not feeling passionate, God, you’re not a tree, move. Go do something about it. We’re lucky to be able-bodied, we’re lucky to be smart. We’re lucky to have all these things, so use them.

“That’s definitely how I approach things with my husband, and he’s the same with me. The sky’s the limit. He’s always telling me the world is my oyster, so we just kind of treat life that way.”

As Cody has become one of the most successful wrestlers outside of WWE, Brandi has been right by his side, sometimes literally. She walks with him to the ring during big Ring of Honor events. At the most recent pay-per-view, she even got involved in the match, jumping from the top rope and taking out two other wrestlers.

But it was never Brandi’s goal to simply join her husband on his journey to the top of the business. She expected to become a wrestler when she first signed with WWE, and it’s something she’s always intended on seeing through.

“For me, it was very important to tap into the wrestling side,” Brandi said. “I’m not one to say I’m gonna do something and not do it. So anytime anything like that happens, it’s always in the back of my mind. Initially, I said I was going to do this, so at some point, this has to happen.”

Brandi has been actively wrestling for a year, currently competing in Ring of Honor’s women’s division (Women of Honor). Her first-ever singles match came early in 2017 on TV when she had a stint with Cody in Impact Wrestling.

“It’s a very quick way to learn. I would say a lot of people have argued that I’ve improved very, very quickly, and a lot of people have changed their minds since last year. Because everybody’s first match is terrible, so I had my first terrible match on TV. I chose to do it that way. I absolutely could’ve done it differently. I chose to put all the stakes out there.

“It means a lot more that I’m improving now because I can’t tell you how many people have said, ‘I was not a believer at first and after your first couple of matches I (thought) she’s not gonna stick with this. This is gonna be it.’ And then they say, ‘To see how far you’ve come, to see how comfortable you seem to be now, and just really winning over audiences, it’s just great.’”

Even though she doesn’t have a ton of experience, Brandi has an opportunity to make history in ROH. She’ll take part in a tournament to crown the first ever Women of Honor Champion in 2018. The tournament begins at the ROH TV tapings in Nashville, Tennessee on Jan. 20.

“It would mean the absolute world to me. I’m fighting for this right now. I’m hoping with everything that I have that I can pull this off and become the first Women of Honor Champion,” Brandi said.

“I have people coming to me saying, ‘I was doing this for a living and I wasn’t happy, and then I saw you having all this success and all this fun chasing your dreams. I went ahead and chased my dream too and look at what I’m doing.’ So my fan base would be so happy to see me chase this dream and see the reality of becoming a champion for sure. I’m very, very much looking forward to the tournament.”

Just because she’s married to one of the biggest names in Ring of Honor, Bradi knows that doesn't mean anything is going to be handed to her. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Everybody likes a fighting story. It’s hard to identify with someone who hasn’t had to fight. So I decided to fight from the bottom from the beginning and try to work my way up to the top. So that’s the goal and I’m still working, still trying, and hopefully, I will be a Women of Honor Champion and it’ll all have been worth every struggle along the way.”

“WAGS Atlanta” premieres Wednesday night on E! At 10 p.m. EST.