Cody Rhodes Says Nick Khan & Bruce Prichard Have Been “Angels”
Cody Rhodes has admitted to being embarrassed by his 2022 injury and explained how WWE CEO Nick Khan and executive Bruce Prichard kept him going.
Cody Rhodes stunned the world of wrestling in early 2022 when he left AEW – the company he helped start – to return to WWE as Seth Rollins’ surprise opponent at WrestleMania 38.
Rhodes and Rollins had a trilogy of matches that culminated in a Hell In A Cell classic in June but just days before that bout took place The American Nightmare suffered a torn pec while lifting weights. He got through the Cell match, defeating Rollins, and then underwent surgery that kept him out of action until his grand return at the 2023 Royal Rumble.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, Cody Rhodes discussed how Nick Khan and Bruce Prichard – who are perceived often as villains by some sections of wrestling fans – were two people from WWE who kept him going during his time out injured:
“I was embarrassed, I really was. I was on top of my game. All the measurables of, ‘this is working, we’re selling this, people are tuning in.’ I’m doing it. Then I got hurt bench pressing at my gym. Probably a lot of wrestling was involved in that, but I didn’t know. I was just embarrassed. I’m really sorry. I am. I didn’t want to leave.”
“I had almost a 30-minute match and then had to go get surgery. I was embarrassed. That was one time where I thought, ‘I’m worried now. Maybe I don’t have it.’ Everyone has doubts, even the most confident people. Maybe I didn’t have it.”
“I’ll tell you two people that really kept me in check, Nick Khan and Bruce Prichard. I don’t know why they have reputations. They’ve been nothing but angels to me. Nick and Bruce don’t see Dusty (Rhodes) when they see me, they see me. That’s big. That’s big with me.”
“They kept me on and never told me, ‘You’re going to do this, this is going to happen.’ Just, ‘get better, get well, we need you back, we’re going to go for it,’ but we never talked about what it was. To be able to come back and punch this ticket, Thank God, just have to stay healthy.”
Cody Rhodes might have booked his place in the main event of WrestleMania 39 with his big Royal Rumble victory but a new report suggests that WWE has the main event for Elimination Chamber in February set as well.