Cody Rhodes Recalls How Triple H Reacted When He Left WWE, How Kevin Owens Helped Him

Earlier this week, Bleacher Report released a lengthy feature on one of All Elite Wrestling's Executive Vice Presidents, Cody Rhodes. "The American Nightmare" thought back to when he first left WWE so that he could venture out into the world of independent wrestling.

"Hunter [Triple H] took it very personally because he had done so much for my dad at NXT," Cody said. "There was one conversation where he said, 'I'm shocked that you feel this way after everything I've done for your family.' But I told him, 'I'm not my dad. I can't stay here out of loyalty to you for giving my dad a job in 2005. I get it, and the little boy in me really appreciates what you did for my dad. But I'm not him. He's not here anymore. I've got to be me.'

"I think Hunter, he's been in wrestling long enough that he knew, 'Oh, this is a real one. He's not asking for more money. He's not asking for a title shot. Nothing would matter at this point.' I let the burn get too bad before I said anything, if that makes any sense," Cody finished.

Cody's wife and the Chief Brand Officer for AEW, Brandi Rhodes, added that WWE also made her an offer to stay but she felt as though her goals didn't align with what WWE had in store for her. She noted how the company attempted to "scare" the couple into staying by projecting the idea that their financials would be in jeopardy if they resigned.

"They made an offer," Brandi said. "I said, 'Thank you so much. I really appreciate you wanting to keep me here. But it's just not in my heart. I'm not going to be able to do what I want to do here.' And he said, 'Well, this is what we're going to do. We're going to go ahead and pay you through the end of your contract. You'll see real quick that money is going to go fast.' They were trying to scare us. Thank God we didn't listen."

Cody revealed that former WWE Universal Champion, Kevin Owens, was the person that first introduced him to The Young Bucks. Owens believed that The Bucks were two of the best examples of superstars that promote themselves well outside of the ring.

"I'm a big organizer and planner," Cody said. "So I had been in [WWE wrestler] Kevin Owens' ear, like, 'Hey, what does the world look like? I've saved a chunk of my money and I bought a home and stuff, but I want to make sure I can keep it. What does it look like out there?' And Kevin was the one who said, 'I'll introduce you to The Young Bucks. They're the masters of having marketed themselves outside of the company.' Me and Brandi were totally fearless in that moment. It was crazy."

Cody and Brandi Rhodes also discussed AEW's recent pay-per-view events, what the future holds as AEW is set to premiere this Wednesday, October 2nd on TNT, and so much more. You can read the entire article here.