WWE: Cody Rhodes wanted to quit professional wrestling

Cody Rhodes has revealed that he came close to quitting pro wrestling altogether during his first run with WWE. The American Nightmare made a triumphant return to the sports entertainment giant at WrestleMania 38 and has since established himself as the company's leading babyface, winning the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania XL.

However, Rhodes endured some trying times during his previous WWE stint and even had his WrestleMania 29 tag team match cancelled at the last minute. During a recent conversation with Nikki Bella on What Do You Wanna Talk About? With Cody Rhodes, the superstar opened up on what life he would have away from wrestling.

Rhodes mentioned that if he weren't a wrestler, he would've been an amateur wrestling coach in high school. He then revealed he came close to following this career around the time of WrestleMania 29 in 2013.

"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. I had completely given up on entertainment, on ever making it," he said. [From 48:25-48:42]

This was the time when Rhodes donned the Stardust gimmick and got over with the fans for a while. However, he soon hit a dead end and thought that was the end for him.

"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. And you know, I a series of things happened in my life where now I look back and I’m like, man, what the like? Who were you? You weren’t you. Weren’t you? It’s like a gap of a few years of not being me,” Rhodes added. [48:43-49:03]

Cody Rhodes eventually left WWE in 2016 and bet on himself. He started making a name for himself on the independent scene before winning championships in Ring of Honor, NWA, and NJPW.

He then helped set up All Elite Wrestling and became the first-ever TNT Champion in the promotion. With growing popularity, Cody Rhodes would leave AEW to return to WWE and the rest is history.

Cody Rhodes will face John Cena at SummerSlam

Cody Rhodes will look to win his second WWE Undisputed Championship when he takes on John Cena at SummerSlam.

It was Cena who ended Cody's year-long reign at WrestleMania 41, winning after hitting the former champion in the head with the title belt. Rhodes then won the King of the Ring tournament last month to earn his title shot at the Biggest Party of the Summer.

Last week on SmackDown, their match was made official as Rhodes forced Cena to sign the contract after taking him out and revealed that their second encounter will be a Street Fight.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit What Do You Wanna Talk About? With Cody Rhodes and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Brandon Nell