Cody Rhodes shocked the wrestling world earlier this year when he asked for his release from WWE and hit the independent circuit with a list of dream matches. According to an interview on the Wrestledelphia podcast, that almost happened four years ago.
Rhodes lost the Intercontinental Championship to the Big Show at WrestleMania 28, and according to Cody, his Hall of Fame father “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes recommended he jump ship then. From the interview:
I know he would have supported it because he told me to ask for my release after WrestleMania 28. I waited until WrestleMania 32 to take his advice.
At 28, I recalled particularly, he was unhappy with the direction things were going with me and Big Show, and he just thought that I was so close to the keys to the kingdom, and they were slipping away, that maybe leaving would wake them to the idea that this is somebody who wanted to captain your ship and the way you guys are treating him has pushed him out. But it seemed at the time like kind of a leopard’s play, so it just didn’t interest me.
I wanted to stick it out, and I always tried to not take Pop’s advice, because he’s my dad, so the advice always came from that part of his heart, not the businessman part of his mind, but his heart, and actually at the end of my WWE career, he was right that I should have made that decision maybe a little sooner.
I’m going to assume Dusty was mad about Daniel Bryan losing to Sheamus in 18 seconds in the opening match and wanted EVERYBODY to give their notice.
It’s interesting to wonder what would’ve happened with Cody Rhodes had he abandoned WWE four years ago, and whether or not he’d be one of the big independent stars currently being signed and given a spotlight on NXT. Maybe he’d be the one being lowered on a pedestal while 15,000 people sing his entrance theme.
h/t to Cageside
