Cody Rhodes has quite the Stone Cold story.
During night one of WrestleMania 38, Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE following a seven-plus year hiatus which included runs in NJPW, Ring of Honor and of course, most notably, AEW. However, during an NJPW show in Long Beach, California, Rhodes recalls meeting WWE Hall of Famer and fellow WrestleMania 38 returner, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, a meeting Rhodes called back to when taking part in WWE's post-WrestleMania media scrum [via Denise Salcedo].
"I have a cool Stone Cold story. The New Japan Long Beach show, I wrestled [Kazuchika] Okada. It was really fun and he's a tremendous storyteller," remembered Rhodes. "I was excited and I always try to get some space afterwards. I went out to the parking lot and [Steve Austin] had come to watch the show and sit on the truck with one of his friends who was producing the show. I didn't know that. There were whispers that Steve Austin was there. He started walking with us to the parking lot, it's Steve Austin, not like 'Steve Austin,' it's the same guy walking to the ring at [WrestleMania 38]. He came up to me in the parking lot and he was telling me about some holds I could do differently and he was giving me some really sincere, genuine advice for wrestling's most prolific money maker. You had to stop being a fan and listen to what he's saying. So, I'm listening, and all this press and media slowly coming. Right as they got closer, he patted me on the shoulder, turned around, and walked off into the darkness. There was no car, no hotel. It was like Batman. It was legit like Batman. There were people like, 'Where did he go?' He was gone. I don't know if he turned the corner and sprinted. It was a really special thing. We got to have that moment again [at Mania]. He said, 'that was the match you needed to have. Hearing that from the guy going on last, yup, thank you.”
Austin, much-like Rhodes, made his WWE in-ring return at WrestleMania 38, where the WWE Hall of Famer defeated Kevin Owens to close out night one.
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