Cody Rhodes has come a long way in the last few years and established himself as one of the top stars of the current generation. After winning the Royal Rumble, he is only one step away from realizing his life’s dream. His journey, however, wasn’t always as glorious. The American Nightmare had to go through some dark times before he was able to get on the path to redemption.
The former AEW star opened up about his journey and his mental health struggles during an appearance on After The Bell. Rhodes was asked about a conversation he had with his wife Brandi Rhodes before leaving WWE. The WWE star recalled how he was tired of not being considered a top guy:
“I’m sitting in a rental car with Brandi. It’s freezing because we were in Scranton, it’s freezing, freezing. We were outside the bus. [The] crew bus was right in front of us. It had The Rock and had the John Cena photo on it from the second Mania. So we’ve already seen this bus for over a year now but this story was encompassing really two years. This story, the John vs Rock saga and it was wonderful. But when you’re on the card, not close to that [it’s discouraging].
At my level, I had been chipping away a little bit as brass rings here and there, brass rings here and there but I hadn’t broken through by any means. I just got so tired of seeing their dang faces. I love John. He was my role model in the business. He’s a rental car guy with me until he got a bus but as much as I did, I just was getting so upset. I told her ‘I can’t keep looking at the same guys. I can’t.’ I got out the car and I threw a yoo hoo glass bottle up against beautiful Dwayne Johnson’s face.”
‘That Was Rough’: Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes detailed his mental state at the time saying that he was ‘dead’ inside. He mentioned how being Stardust in front of Brandi was especially hard and he didn’t want to lower himself in front of her. The conversation ultimately led to him making the decision to leave the promotion:
“Getting it out for me, ultimately would lead to me leaving. It was the only way I could get it out. It was pinned up. It was pinned up for too long. Today you’ve got a medical team at WWE that includes mental health services. I’m not saying that I was deep down the rabbit hole, but it’s still so helpful to talk to somebody. I only had other wrestlers to talk to. Myself to talk to. You never want to lower yourself in front of your beloved. In front of your wife.
One of the hardest things for me was being Stardust in front of Brandi. That was rough. When Brandi married Cody Rhodes, he was the Intercontinental Champion. He was wrestling Randy Orton every night and we were absolutely tearing the joint down. Next thing you know, I’m running around in a space outfit and trying to make the best of it but I was very dead inside. Also to this day, I don’t know why I was drinking a yoo hoo.”
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