WWE's Cody Rhodes Names The Opponent Who Gave Him His Most Non-Fake Matches

As the old warning video used to say, wrestling might be entertainment but the hazards are real, as Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes learned over the course of 2023.

Rhodes recently spoke about a few matches that he had in 2023, which felt like a real fight.

"The three matches I had with Brock Lesnar are the most competitive [ones I've had]," Rhodes explained on "2 Bears, 1 Cave" recently. "There's a thing when you work with a guy who's a big monster, where they make you earn it. You're not just grabbing my leg, even though that might be the spot. You're not just hitting me with the Cody Cutter. You have to actually earn it."

Rhodes believes those three matches are the closest he's come to fighting in an actual fight with his opponent.

"I look back at those three matches lovingly and so proud of the body of work we put up but also I remember, 'scared' is probably an appropriate term," Rhodes said, being unable to compare it to any wrestling, professional or amateur, that he's ever done. "That was the most real it had ever been for me in the ring. It gave me a whole new education."

Rhodes said that Lesnar is a "freak athlete," who taught him that matches can't be as simple as a give-and-take performance, and he's taken that into 2024, where he won the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania.

Lesnar has been away from WWE since news broke that he was involved in the sex trafficking scandal that rocked WWE earlier this year. Former WWE employee Janel Grant alleged sexual harassment, abuse, and trafficking at the hands of former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. An unnamed "former UFC Champion" was said to be involved in the trafficking aspect, which was later revealed to be Lesnar.