Cody Rhodes reflects on going long at OTT Being The Elite.
Cody Rhodes traveled to Over The Top Wrestling in Ireland in December 2017 for OTT Being The Elite to take on Flip Gordon and Rey Fenix in a triple threat match. The show was headlined by JD McDonagh (Jordan Devlin), challenging Mark Haskins for the OTT No Limits Championship.
Speaking on his So, What Do You Want To Talk About? podcast, Cody looked back at that night.
"During my Indie run, I didn't always pay attention to what the local independent was doing. You just saw it on your calendar, you go there, you knew who you were wrestling. I didn't know about the ins and outs and the champions of this independent territory. I didn't get any of this. There is a show in Ireland, OTT, very well done, one of the best ones going. They promoted me coming there and I had seen it before. They throw my picture on the screen, the place loses their mind, they make this great poster with me coming. It's me, front and center. Not paying much attention to what's going on. I have a triple threat match. I had this ring that people would kiss. I spent about 20 minutes goofing around in the crowd, Indie-ing about. We're not under any time constraints. Apparently, we were. Referee tells me I have to wrap it up and go home. On an Indie show. I don't get hot that often. I don't think I do. I try to disguise it. I had to tell the guy, 'We're going to go home when we go home.' We went on for another 10 to 12 minutes. Got to it.
"Then, I spent another 30 minutes goofing around, glad-handing, having a great time, loving Ireland. Came to the back and there was a cold air. I knew something was wrong, but not what. Go into the locker room, no one is speaking directly to me. No one. You could tell something was up. Very cold. Get home. A few weeks later, JD McDonagh, who we know and love, gets into a Twitter spat with [Cody's wife] Brandi (Rhodes). Apparently, that was JD McDonagh's big title match for the OTT Championship that night. Because I had gone to the lengths I had gone, the public trans leaves at 10:30. They had completely checked out. We're looking at a quarter of the people that were there compared to the beginning. About a quarter left. Everyone had to get on the train. They missed his big moment. He was the local hero. We didn't get a chance to discuss it until I crossed paths with Judgment Day on Monday Night Raw. I feel bad to this day. I feel I owe JD."
After the event, when the possibility of Cody vs. McDonagh was brought up, McDonagh replied, “Pass from me. I have respect for both [referee Niall Fox] and [OTT management]. I stick to my times.”
Brandi tweeted at the time, "If you had such a problem with this, as a man, wouldn’t you approach someone face to face and voice the issue? Waiting to tweet negatively about an individual is pretty unprofessional. The announcer at an ROH show voiced this concern to a talent last week. Man to man."
Cody wrote, "I was unaware we had times. The show was named after us & not dependent on ppv/cable guidelines. The first inkling I got of it was the referee asking me to “take it home”. I felt disrespected by that and didn’t want to short the fans. Apologies if it created issue for you. Management never complained to me, opposite actually. They were nothing but professional. Considering the pre-show group photo op went so well and was so profitable for their outlet, I assumed it was a symbiotic pleasurable experience."
Cody and McDonagh faced each other in a street fight at a WWE live event on October 1, 2023.
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