Cody Rhodes On How It Felt To Hear WWE Fans Turn On The Rock

It's safe to say 2024 has been pretty good to Cody Rhodes, largely due to him finishing the story and capturing the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship from Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. But it's easy to forget that Rhodes could still be waiting to finish the story right now, if not for the turn of events that occurred in January when Rhodes initially gave up his shot at facing Reigns to The Rock, starting a groundswell of fan support towards Rhodes that ultimately led to him reconsidering and challenging Reigns after all.

In a lengthy interview with "Busted Open Radio" on Monday, Rhodes was asked about how it felt to see fans side with him over someone as popular as The Rock. For Rhodes, it was both a sign that his popularity was greater than he had realized, and also pretty surreal, given Rhodes views Rock as an example to reach for in this industry.

"I've never considered myself anything like that," Rhodes said. "I've liked when people build you up and say nice things about you, but I've never considered myself that in an honest fashion. So for him to go back, the most popular sports entertainer of all time, one of the most recognizable people on planet Earth...for him to come back and people make the choice to boo him. And people make the choice to even chant 'Rocky sucks!' and there were people wearing Rock shirts that were chanting 'Rocky sucks!' 

"It's the first time I've ever felt my place in the ring and realized 'Oh, I might be getting close to where I want to be. I might have clicked and connected with this audience that I think I've connected with. I might've clicked and connected more than I even realized.'"

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription