Cody Rhodes has opened up about the pressure and “huge gamble” he took when returning to WWE at WrestleMania 38.
Appearing on a new episode of The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast, the former Undisputed WWE Champion admitted that the anxiety of that career move was even greater than when he originally left the company in 2016.
Rhodes detailed the clandestine meeting at his house that paved the way for his return. Accompanied by long-time friend Bruce Prichard, Vince McMahon met with Rhodes. This is something that caught The Undertaker off guard, because wrestlers have always traveled to the WWE founder, not the other way around.
“I thought I was special, because I got to the house, right? I was like, ‘Oh, they’re gonna be, this is double secret kayfabe,'” Undertaker stated. “I’m not going to Titan Towers, I’m going to the house.”
For Rhodes, he took the meeting to show McMahon what he had done for himself and grown as a person. He also wanted to show McMahon the career that he has built.
“I think Vince was looking at it from the perspective of, ‘I just need someone to wrestle Seth.’ And then the meeting. All I ever thought of the meeting, I was so excited again, somebody who said, never directly, but I was made to feel didn’t value me or didn’t value me enough. Perhaps that’s all I thought about in that meeting.”
Despite having everything planned out, Rhodes realized he was dealing with the “Jedi Masters” of the industry. He recalled that it wasn’t the financial offer that ultimately swayed him, but the relentless dangling of the word “opportunity”.
When Rhodes asked Prichard for advice as they walked out of the meeting, Prichard simply told him, “I think you know what you should do,” which Rhodes noted as the ultimate non-answer that pushed him toward the jump.
