Cody Rhodes talks "broken throne," relationship with HHH, leaving AEW, more

[Chris]

Cody Rhodes says that he's never discussed his ring entrance from Double or Nothing 2019 with Triple H.

During his walk to the ring on the pay-per-view, Rhodes used Triple H's signature weapon, a sledgehammer, to smash a throne. He would later say the throne symbolized Triple H's reign.

Now that he's returned to WWE, Rhodes told the SI Media Podcast that he and Triple H have never spoken about the incident.

Rhodes said

It's not mentioned and I'd love it to be mentioned, eventually, because I still have my broken throne at the Nightmare Factory. I was in the warehouse the other day with WWE and there was the throne throne, it's just sitting right there, and the replicas. Mine's a replica of the throne throne. And I think there's some imagery, some iconography, that could be utilized for a show potentially. So, I'd love if, eventually, we talk about it.

Rhodes would continue to speak about his relationship with Triple H and shared that he received a text message from him after winning the ROH World Championship in 2017.

One thing that was really nice, a conversation that him and I did have, and I didn't share this until I came back recently, was when I won the ROH World Championship, I won that title and I hadn't spoke to him since I left and I just got a one-word text from him that just said, 'congrats.' And this is a Ring of Honor show that ends at 1 a.m. essentially.

Rhodes would also say that receiving the text confirmed for him that Triple H has his "finger on the pulse" of what younger wrestling fans are into.

Rhodes continued:

I was glad, and I found out later that he watched every bit of it. He kept tabs on me.
We're hearing about how good Hunter is, about the younger wrestling crowd. He's got his finger on the pulse of what the young fans, and the young roster, is into and that was a good indication of that for me.

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/cody-rhodes-hasnt-discussed-broken-throne-with-triple-h

 

[Chris]

As part of his media rounds promoting his main event match at this weekend's WWE WrestleMania 39, Cody Rhodes talked to Bleacher Report about his AEW experience with a nod toward why it was time to leave.

Rhodes will challenge undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns on Sunday's second night in an effort to capture his first-ever World title in either WWE or AEW.

His role as a player/coach of sorts in AEW was something that portended his end there as he was taking losses to talents earlier than he felt should happen:

"I was letting some of them beat me long before they should ever beat me," he confesses of AEW's upstarts. "I wanted them to succeed, and I still do, but it wasn't time for me to be a coach. It was time for me to be a player."

He didn't mention who he was specifically referring to, but a look through Rhodes' AEW in-ring run doesn't show a lot of defeats. In singles losses, he was defeated by Sammy Guevara, Andrade El Idolo, Malakai Black, Brodie Lee, Darby Allin, MJF and Chris Jericho during his entire run while his losses in tag team and multi-person matches were fairly minimal.

Rhodes' sister, Teil, also intimated that his workload and commitments while in AEW was spreading him thin and away from his true love: being in the ring:

"People forget that during the early AEW days, you have this really hot thing and then the pandemic hits. You're trying to figure out how to keep producing a TV show when half your colleagues are on the West Coast, so during that time, he didn't sleep. It was work, work, work.
Those other things that were brought under the umbrella of the media company, you want to try them, but he was definitely spread thin, and when you really get down to the brass tacks of who Cody is, he is a pro wrestler. That's what he loves, it's his whole life."

After six years away from WWE spent rebuilding his name on the indies and then co-founding AEW, Rhodes signed with WWE last year and debuted at last year's WrestleMania, spending a considerable amount of time on the sidelines after tearing his pectoral muscle. He earned his shot at Reigns by winning this year's men's Royal Rumble.

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/cody-rhodes-on-leaving-aew-it-was-time-for-me-to-be-a-player-not-a-coach