Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Cody Rhodes addressed one of the more memorable moments from Rhodes’ time outside WWE. At AEW’s inaugural show in 2019, Rhodes smashed a throne during his entrance that was clearly a message to Triple H. The two addressed the moment on Rhodes’ “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast this week, with Levesque saying he never viewed it as a serious shot.
“I saw it as your hammer because it was smaller than mine [laughs]. No, look, that kind of sh*t to me is like, I remember when people brought it to me and were showing it to me and I was like, ‘F**k yeah, all right, good for him.’ You know what I mean? That’s the kind of sh*t you do, you’re trying to make a name for yourself, you’re trying to get out there, you’re trying to do some cool sh*t, trying to do some different stuff,” Levesque said.
“Believe me, if I would have thought there was malice in it, and maybe indirectly there was some at the time, I don’t know. But if I would have thought there was any serious malice in it, I would have called you and said, ‘Hey, dude, like, are we okay?’ Because I was so close to your dad, but then I always felt like a connection to you. And when you were here, and it was difficult for me when you left, because I couldn’t say like, I couldn’t over the top go like, ‘Dude, get the fk out of here and go out there and make a name for yourself and make yourself, what you said, desirable and we’ll fing come chasing after you and bring you back.’ Sometimes you got to get out of the rut you’re in. You just got to bite it off and go in a different direction. Make the left turn, right? And it was so difficult, but during that time, I remember thinking like, all right, that’s getting out there. That’s being bold and making a statement.”
Rhodes said there was no malice behind the moment, pointing to a text he received from Levesque after winning the Ring of Honor title.
“You did tell me, because you said, ‘Go rattle the cages.’ And you kind of made yourself the target for me to rattle in terms of the optics of wrestling. And there was no malice for sure because this is after I won the Ring of Honor title. One of the first texts I got back to was yours: ‘Congrats.’ As I was walking to the hospital in Lowell because my lip was busted open holding my first World title,” Rhodes said.
Levesque said he watched Rhodes’ outside run with nothing but support.
“You know, it’s one of those things where you see somebody going off, doing their own thing, and having success. And I’m like, ‘F**k yeah, Cody. Come on.’ Like, get yourself in that spot where we’re like, ‘Hey, we should go like, I don’t know what he did different, but let’s go get him.’ You know what I mean?” Levesque said.
Rhodes admitted he was relieved the memory carried no hard feelings.
“I’m glad the feeling is good on it versus — because I’m thinking, man, if he’s mad about it, it’s a long road to whatever the payoff is,” Rhodes said.
“He’s waiting on that receipt [laughs],” Levesque responded.
“No, man, I never even — I never thought about anything other than, ‘F**k yeah, good for him. Go get it,'” Levesque added.
Rhodes departed AEW in 2022 and returned to WWE, where Levesque said it has been a “dream” to work with him. Rhodes is currently on his third Undisputed WWE Championship reign and will defend the title against Randy Orton in the main event of WrestleMania 42 night one on April 18.
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.
