Matt Cardona shares his thoughts on Cody Rhodes' return to WWE.
Rhodes came up in the WWE system, and he had a somewhat successful run as he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship. Cody later requested his release, and he went on to build himself into a major star with a prominent run around the wrestling world. He then helped launch AEW in 2019, and he was one of the company's Executive Vice Presidents. During Rhodes' time with AEW, he held the TNT Championship three times. Rhodes then left AEW in February 2022 and returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 in 2022.
Speaking with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Cardona was asked about Rhodes' return to WWE. He joked that he chased Cody out of WWE, as Stardust lost his last match to Cardona during his days as Zack Ryder. The former WWE Intercontinental Champion then highlighted the way Rhodes took a chance on himself and redefined success outside of WWE.
"I chased Cody Rhodes out of WWE. Look at the history books, as Stardust, he loses -- well the other guy is not here. Zack Ryder, rest in peace, Zack Ryder beat Stardust and he quit the biz. He took his ball and went home. In all seriousness, he took a chance on himself. A lot of people thought he was crazy because it hadn't been done before to really go out -- because there was nowhere else to go, it was just the unknown, the indies. He redefined what it was like to go out there and be a wrestler bigger than the indies. He's his own entity. He rebuilt himself. AEW, what he did, it speaks for itself," Cardona said.
Cardona then detailed what he told Cody when "The American Nightmare" was making the decision to go to WWE. He recalled how he encouraged Rhodes to make the jump because he knew WWE was his friend's dream. Cardona noted that he didn't think Rhodes was being selfish enough, but by coming to WWE, he gave himself the chance to make his dream a reality.
"I was just saying this to someone earlier, he called me and said, 'Oh, Vince McMahon came to my house and offered me this,' and I was like, 'Yeah, bullshit,' but I said, 'You gotta go.' I didn't say, 'You gotta finish the story,' but I'm like, 'You have to go. That's your dream.' People, they dream of being WWE Champion. If you want to be a champion, you gotta go for it. You can't just start another company. What he did, it was great. All In, AEW, unbelievable stuff, but I feel like he wasn't being selfish enough. His dream was to be WWE Champion and now he has that opportunity," he said.
Sapp pointed out that Rhodes previously left WWE at a time when most people were opting to stay with the company, so Cody paved the way for those who came after him. Cardona responded by stating that Rhodes raised his stock and made himself "undeniable," so he deserves credit for that.
"Absolutely. He raised his stock... He made himself, he says it all the time, 'Undesirable to Undeniable,' and that's exactly what he did. So, you gotta give him credit for that," Cardona said.
Since his WWE return, Rhodes has won the Royal Rumble match and headlined WrestleMania. In doing so, he has firmly established himself as one of the company's top stars
Rhodes previously described how he was surprised that Cardona didn't "stooge off" about his return, and the former GCW World Champion encouraged him to go back to WWE. Check out his comments here.
Cardona has said that there's a real life story that he and Rhodes could tell in WWE. Click here to see what he had to say.
In a previous interview, Cardona stated that he will find his way back to WWE. You can find his comments here.
