Cody Rhodes made his sensational return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 as Vince McMahon’s hand-picked opponent for Seth Rollins.
Rhodes was victorious in his WWE return, and also in the subsequent bouts between the two, including their Hell in a Cell match immediately following Rhodes tearing his pectoral muscle.
In a recent interview with the Dan LeBatard Show, Rhodes revealed that the animosity between himself and Rollins extends far beyond their on-screen rivalry. In fact, after speaking about backstage politics and locker room jealousy, he revealed that the two nearly came to blows backstage in front of their coworkers.
“I almost would say that I like less people than I dislike in terms of the backstage setting. The competition that exists in wrestling, you see that suspension of disbelief on-screen, but backstage it is very real in terms of the competition, who is going to be on top. For example, who is going to headline WrestleMania. This year, being Roman Reigns and myself, it doesn’t garner a lot of friends.
“Seth Rollins is the closest I’ve ever had to backstage turning into a fist fight in front of all of our peers and upper management. It didn’t happen. Him and I absolutely can’t stand one another, I’d probably try and rip his eyes out.”
Cody Rhodes Had One Backstage Altercation In WWE
Continuing, Rhodes opened up about the one fight he’s had backstage during his early days in WWE. He said he emerged victorious in the skirmish due to his Greco-Roman wrestling training.
“I’ve had one backstage skirmish. I’m not going to name the guy. The good thing is, I won. When I came back, this is early in my career, he was wearing one of my vests. I have these special leather vests that I wore as part of my entrance. He was wearing it and kind of mocking me at the talent viewing position.
“As I went walking towards him, I thought I was going to headbutt him, but a headbutt seems pretty violent these days. I thought, ‘why don’t I just grapple him?’ I have a good folkstyle Greco background. I got an over-under and swept him to the floor. Then I took my jacket and I looked like a complete jerk in front of everybody because he was probably just having a good time and it was probably funny. Only one fight backstage and I won that fight.”
After winning the 2023 Royal Rumble, Rhodes is set to face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, CA.
h/t Fightful