Cody Rhodes had the feeling restored.
Cody Rhodes returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 as the mystery opponent for Seth Rollins. Rhodes had left WWE in 2016 to embark on a journey in independent wrestling before helping found AEW alongside Tony Khan, The Young Bucks (Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson), Kenny Omega, and others.
Speaking to The Miz on So, What Do You Want To Talk About?, Cody was asked about "the wave" of pro wrestling getting hot, and if he felt that when helped start AEW.
"I feel I was so caught up in the moment of the revolution that was happening, and wanting to be the guy they trusted the most with the revolution, wanting to be the guy they trusted the most when all these changes are happening. The world is opening up and wrestlers are coming straight from the independents as they are to a big time TV setting, I just wanted to be the face of all of that. I feel like I focused heavily on it, not realizing, 'Is this working? Is it not working? Is this taking off?' Especially with AEW, I was very in the moment. 'We're going to do this. It's going to be great.' By the time I came back at WrestleMania, my feeling was, 'I think I'll be well-received, but I might also be booed as the guy who went away and did all these things.' I would never say I was just happy to be there, but at that point in my career, it was about providing for my family and the best thing for my family. Then, as soon as I came back, instance to walking out, it had rekindled, not just my love for pro wrestling, but it rekindled the feeling of 'I can get to the top. It's not lost yet. I still have a shot at it,'" he said.
Cody said he started to "feel the wave" during the Hall of Fame ceremony at WrestleMania 40 when he was sitting at the center of the induction and was mentioned multiple times by presenters and inductees.
Rhodes is set to defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Solo Sikoa at WWE SummerSlam. Fans can check out the current lineup for WWE SummerSlam by clicking here.
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