Cody Rhodes marked his sensational return to WWE after a seven-year absence at WrestleMania 38 after being selected by Vince McMahon to face Seth Rollins.
However, it appears that the rivalry between the two WWE stars is just as feisty off-screen as it is on.
Talking to The Dan LeBatard Show in his media rounds for his upcoming match this weekend, the 2023 Royal Rumble champion Rhodes revealed to LeBatard that he and Rollins “absolutely can’t stand one another” and that the tension between the two almost led to “a fist-fight in front of all of our peers and upper management” backstage.
The rivalry between the two is so hot in fact that Rhodes even claimed that he would “probably try and rip his [Rollins] eyes out.”
Cody Rhodes' quotes in full about Seth Rollins
“I almost would say that I like less people than I dislike in terms of the backstage setting. The competition that exists in wrestling, you see that suspension of disbelief on-screen, but backstage it is very real in terms of the competition, who is going to be on top. For example, who is going to headline WrestleMania. This year, being Roman Reigns and myself, it doesn’t garner a lot of friends.
“Seth Rollins is the closest I’ve ever had to backstage turning into a fist fight in front of all of our peers and upper management. It didn’t happen. Him and I absolutely can’t stand one another, I’d probably try and rip his eyes out.”
Cody Rhodes has had backstage beef before
Rhodes is no stranger to backstage bust-ups, as he went on to open up about a physical altercation he had with an un-named opponent back in his first stint in WWE.
He credits his Greco-Roman wrestling training for this one and only backstage fight and subsequent victory.
“I’ve had one backstage skirmish. I’m not going to name the guy. The good thing is, I won. When I came back, this is early in my career, he was wearing one of my vests. I have these special leather vests that I wore as part of my entrance. He was wearing it and kind of mocking me at the talent viewing position.”
“As I went walking towards him, I thought I was going to headbutt him, but a headbutt seems pretty violent these days. I thought, ‘why don’t I just grapple him?’ I have a good folkstyle Greco background. I got an over-under and swept him to the floor. Then I took my jacket and I looked like a complete jerk in front of everybody because he was probably just having a good time and it was probably funny. Only one fight backstage and I won that fight.”
Next up for Cody Rhodes – a fight for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles, California vs none other than Roman Reigns this weekend.