On the latest episode of his podcast, What Do You Wanna Talk About?, Cody Rhodes shared a wild and previously untold story about a bizarre backstage encounter he had with Donald Trump at WrestleMania 29. The surreal moment took place while Rhodes was hiding under the stage, emotionally distraught after his scheduled match was cut from the show at the last minute.
The story came up as Rhodes and his guest, Nikki Bella, were reminiscing about the infamous canceled mixed tag team match, which was set to feature Rhodes and Damien Sandow against The Bella Twins. Both stars recalled their immense frustration and the “walk of shame” back through the gorilla position after being told their match was off.
“I’m Out”
Rhodes explained that the cancellation was a significant breaking point for him in his career at the time, a moment that made him want to leave the company. To avoid a confrontation with anyone backstage, he made the decision to hide under the entrance stage to collect himself.
“I knew you guys had been hit hard by it,” he said to Nikki. “I was so angry. And at that point, I think that’s the first moment where I was like, ‘I’m out.’ Didn’t come ’til years later, but I thought, ‘No, I’m out.’ So my walk of shame wasn’t far because I went under the stage. I just sat there because I really, my fear was I’m gonna say something or yell at somebody, or some writer is gonna ask for something, I’m gonna go crazy. So I went and sat under the stage. I was really trying to kind of control my emotions.”
An Unexpected Encounter
It was in this moment of solitude and frustration that the surreal encounter occurred. As he was sitting in the dark, still in his full ring gear, he was startled by a sudden kick to his foot and a voice he did not immediately recognize.
“I’m sitting there, I’m not looking ahead, and I felt a kick on my foot, and I heard, ‘Excuse me, young’un.’ And I look up and it is the sitting President of the United States, Donald Trump, who is with his entire family walking by,” Rhodes recounted. “To then go out to do the Hall of Fame shout-out or whatever it was. And I literally was like, ‘Oh, sorry, excuse me.’ And I just turned and I’m in full gear. I had my new robe on and everything. Everyone had new gear. And this is WrestleMania.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit What Do You Wanna Talk About? with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
