It was a stellar in-ring return for Cody Rhodes on Saturday night at the WWE Royal Rumble. After entering at Number 30 in the Men’s Rumble match, The American Nightmare eliminated GUNTHER, the WWE Intercontinental Champion to secure his place in the main event of WrestleMania 39, earning him the biggest victory of his career.
Rhodes, who returned to WWE at last year’s WrestleMania after leaving the company in 2016 and later helping form AEW in 2019, spoke to Ariel Helwani of BT Sport about his recent win. During the interview, he talked about some of his past frustrations with the company, including his envy of John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for their top spots in WWE. He recalled a moment in a parking lot over a decade ago when he felt particularly low.
Cody Rhodes Admits Being Jealous Of The Rock And John Cena
“For whatever reason, I was drinking Yoohoo and the Cena/Rock bus was in front of me, and that bus had been in front of me for one year, and it’s Cena, and it’s Rock, I get it, but I was getting so close and getting knocked back down,” Rhodes explained. “I took the Yoohoo bottle and I threw it against the side of the bus and I told [Brandi] ‘I just can’t do this. I can’t be number 25 on the call sheet, I can’t even be 1b, man. I want to play quarterback.’”
Rhodes also apologised for his past actions, such as throwing the Yoohoo bottle at The Rock’s face.
“Maybe I had some things when I left that I was right about, but there was a lot I wasn’t right about,” Rhodes said. “But yeah, I threw a Yoohoo bottle against The Rock’s face. Poor Rock, I’m so sorry.”
Despite these past frustrations, Rhodes has finally achieved his goal of being in the top spot.
“These guys, they’re on top and on top and on top, and they’re on top for a reason. I just wanted to be in that spot and it took me some time to get even close to it,” he said.
Rhodes will now go on to face Roman Reigns, the WWE Undisputed Universal Champion, in the main event of WrestleMania 39, which takes place April 1st and 2nd in Los Angeles, California.