Cody Rhodes left WWE in 2016, feeling he could be more than what WWE saw of him at the time.
Rhodes entered the world of independent wrestling for the first time after spending his career coming up through the WWE system.
Kevin Owens wanted to make sure Cody was taken care of on the independent scene, so he put Cody in contact with The Young Bucks Matthew Jackson and Nicholas Jackson.
The rest is history.
"Cody left in 2016, and it sucked," Owens told CBS Sports' Shakiel Mahjouri. "It sucked to lose my friend. I really wanted him to have the best possible introduction to the independent scene because he had never been around and never done that. He had been in the WWE system for so long. The independent scene is a whole different ballgame from the WWE. I just guided him in the right direction and put him in touch with people. I knew the Young Bucks would take care of him and I knew they would hit it off. They did. I was right. That helped him get the right platform and everything else fit. He knew what he was capable of and he really wanted to show people what he already saw in himself. He succeeded. That's an understatement. It's great to see him get all of his flowers and see the position he's in now."
Cody and the Bucks went on to run All In, the biggest independent wrestling show ever, which helped lead to the formation of AEW.
Cody is now back in WWE and set to defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Owens at WWE Bash In Berlin.
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