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While Cody Rhodes is on top of the WWE Universe at the moment, holding the promotion's top title, the WWE Championship, while effectively serving as the face of the company, there's one question fans want to know more than any other: what the heck happened at the end of his AEW run?
On paper, it makes sense, right? Rhodes left AEW under unusual circumstances, requesting his contract option be declined to work out something new, only to leave the promotion entirely after a wildcard meeting with Vince McMahon, but the actual circumstances of his departure? The personal issues that may have led to the exit? Yeah, fans still don't know what happened, which, in professional wrestling, is increasingly rare.
Asked about his exit for the umpteenth time in an interview with Inside The Ropes on Bash in Berlin weekend, Rhodes revealed that, in his opinion, the story really isn't as “sexy' as some fans may expect, as the public speculation has blown things out of proportion.
“I think perhaps people might have already run away with it. It's not really that sexy of a story. I think I was more referencing that Brandi and I had been offered new contracts. Brandi had a great deal with Tony. I had a great deal with Tony. ‘Rhodes to the Top' season two, it had been renewed. I feel you'll hear some narratives online, such as ‘They're so far off.' The temptation comes from maybe a fear of it getting away from reality and truth because it's so easy to have a blue check, say something, and nobody fact checks it. It's a little scary when you're in the public eye. The idea that, as we grow older, and books are written, and larger interviews. I have a daughter, and her legacy is my legacy,” Rhodes explained to Inside The Ropes via Fightful.
“My dad [Dusty Rhodes], my family, my brother [Dustin Rhodes] still being with the company. I don't want my legacy to be, in any way, I don't want elements that are fabricated or lied about becoming truth. That's where the temptation is to speak up and say, ‘No, here's what happened.' Even so, when it takes root, sometimes people need that to be the story, and they're not going to believe you regardless. I'm fairly optimistic that everything with that will be a great story in maybe ten to 20 years when they talk about the revolution and the industry. I hope I get to be interviewed alongside everybody else and share what a d**n fun time it was, and I hope it continues. To your point about temptation. It's not a sexy story, and my concern is when people try to put a spin on it who weren't there or don't know, that's all stuff you can't avoid. You can't avoid it. It's going to happen.”
You know, if Rhodes really wanted to stop speculation and keep the focus of his current run on his WWE career alone, all he has to do is give a proper tell-all interview where he explains what he can legally. Lay out the good, lay out the bad, and allow the chips to fall where they may.
Unfortunately, that probably won't happen any time soon, but when his in-ring career comes to an end, and there's enough space between the indie boom of the late 2010s and Rhodes' coronation as the WWE Champion, who knows, maybe the wait will finally be worth it?
Cody Rhodes hints at even more drama surrounding WrestleMania 40
Jumping from one story Rhodes can't fully explain to *checks notes* another story Rhodes can't fully explain, the “American Nightmare” reflected on his plans for WrestleMania 40 with Inside The Ropes and let it be known that, even after The Rock's documentary, fans still don't know the whole story.
“If people knew the real plan for me, they’d be even more angry. I can’t share the real plan for you, The Rock plan, whatever it may be. That was going to be on my mind in terms of how do we make that work? How do we accomplish that?” Rhodes asked via 411 Mania. “I had a really good team of people around me. That’s where DDP hit me with the famous, whatever happens to you will be the best thing that ever happens to you line, and I thought, that’s insane, that’s madness. I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, and he was right. Including if it had gone the other way, he would have been right because the audience was what mattered, and I got to be really quiet and I got to say nothing, I got to watch the fire grow and I realised maybe I had every right to be confident. Maybe I had every right to not be concerned. But yeah, definitely, let’s say it was a Wheatley Vodka-sponsored few days.”
Alright, what's the deal? Is Rhodes just really hard to deal with? Or is he just so focused on maintaining a narrative against anything that may paint him as a politician behind the scenes? Either way, this future book Rhodes has been hinting at has the potential to be an absolute must-read, as the “American Nightmare” has some stories that need to be told.
