Before he “finished the story,” Cody Rhodes almost walked away from professional wrestling for good.
During a recent episode of his podcast, What Do You Wanna Talk About?, the former Undisputed WWE Champion opened up about the darkest period of his first WWE run.
Rhodes admitted that his frustration with the Stardust character, coupled with creative stagnation and setbacks like his WrestleMania 29 match being cut, led him to consider a complete career change—coaching high school amateur wrestling. “If wrestling was to go away tomorrow? I’d be an amateur wrestling coach, like a high school wrestling coach,” Rhodes said.
He added, “Yes, that was my plan. Shockingly, you’re gonna be like, what? But around the time we got cut at WrestleMania, and around the time Stardust popped up, I was going to get my degree so that in the public school system in Georgia, I could be an amateur wrestling coach.”
Rhodes reflected on just how low he felt during that era, saying he had “completely given up on entertainment.” He continued, “I thought I’d done everything right. I was very pity party. Feel sorry for myself, all those things. Couldn’t get a look left or right.”
He explained, “And, you know, a series of things happened in my life where now I look back and I’m like, man… Who were you? You weren’t you. Weren’t you? It’s like a gap of a few years of not being me, the journey.”
Of course, fans now know that Rhodes eventually bet on himself, leaving WWE in 2016 and helping build AEW before making a triumphant return to WWE and headlining back-to-back WrestleManias.
What could’ve been a quiet life in Georgia as a coach turned into one of the most celebrated modern wrestling journeys—and it nearly didn’t happen.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more exclusive updates and behind-the-scenes stories from the world of pro wrestling.
