Cody Rhodes was scheduled to team with Damien Sandow and The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie Bella in WWE, now Nikki & Brie Garcia) to take on Tons of Funk (Brodus Clay & Tensai) and The Funkadactyls (Naomi & Cameron) at WrestleMania 29.
The match was cut from the show, and the reactions of Naomi, Cameron, Nikki, & Brie was filmed for "Total Divas." The bout took place the following night on WWE Raw.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, Cody reflected on that moment a decade later.
"There's a part that happened that people may not know. My match getting cut. It did get cut at the 11th hour, but after some Jesse Venture style conspiracy theory on it, I don't think the match was ever supposed to happen because they were filming 'Total Divas' at the time and that was a big plot thread. That makes me more mad, if I'm like a lamb to slaughter for 'Total Divas.' People liked 'Total Divas,' it's still the standard in terms of doing these wrestling reality shows. I would have been like, 'Let me in, let me make a scene. Let me be part of that.' Here's the thing people don't know; our match got cut, Vince (McMahon) stood up and told us, 'Hey guys, we have to do it tomorrow.' What I hated the most is that everyone in there was like, 'Alright, yeah.' I was staring a hole through him. I knew I couldn't fist fight, that wasn't on my mind, but I didn't want him to think I was happy. I didn't want him to think, 'Oh cool, the biggest event we have every year that we're ready to rock for isn't going to happen.' It made me not like P. Diddy too because he had a musical performance and it was real long. I thought, 'We could have done the match in the beginning of this musical thing.' I stare a hole through him, I'm very upset, I'm sure he could have cared less," recalled Cody.
Cody continued, "I go and sit under the stage. I didn't want to freak out. You don't want to lash out at anybody. People are doing their jobs and working hard. Mania is moving on with or without me. I went and sat under the stage, and looking down, I felt this foot kick my foot. It was Donald Trump. He was walking back, he had his whole posse, he's walking back and is like, 'excuse me young man.' I had to shimmy my legs to the side for these 50 people he had with him. I had to get out of the way for Donald. It was kind of a sobering moment. 'Hey, life is moving on.'"
A decade later, Cody Rhodes is headlining WrestleMania 39 and Donald Trump has been indicted by a grand jury.
Elsewhere during the interview, Cody discussed MJF possibly joining WWE. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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