Cody Rhodes once almost quit wrestling to pursue acting, reveals family member (Exclusive)
Teil Runnels recently recalled the time when Cody Rhodes was close to quitting the wrestling business and pursuing a career in acting.
The American Nightmare's rise to the top is one of the most inspiring journeys in wrestling. Though he was a fixture in the mid-card scene during his first run with WWE, Cody dreamt of bigger things for himself.
Things had become so bad at one point that the 38-year-old even contemplated leaving wrestling altogether. Cody's sister, Teil Runnels, revealed as much in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Bill Apter.
She said that Cody Rhodes was looking to pursue an acting career. However, Teil added since wrestling was in her brother's blood, he instead chose to leave WWE and embark upon a memorable run on the indie scene, which gave a new lease of life to his career.
"Yeah. He thought, 'If I could leave, maybe I could get into TV. I could get into acting.' But Cody, the business is really his life. He loves it so much, and that's when he went on that incredible indie run where he made his list and, obviously, left WWE. Every step he took kind of brought us to where we are now," said Teil Runnels. [3:10 - 3:40]
Check out the full video below:
Cody Rhodes on when he first thought about leaving WWE
In a recent interview with Robbie Fox of My Mom's Basement, Cody Rhodes looked back at the time when he first contemplated leaving WWE and what made him change his mind.
The American Nightmare revealed that he was thinking of exiting the global juggernaut in 2011-2012 but changed his mind after seeing just how much the fans cheered for him during that 2013 Money in the Bank Ladder match.
"For them to have got with me that night [at Money in the Bank 2013], a career milestone. I wouldn’t have stayed with WWE as long as I did had that moment not happened… 2013? Oh yeah… I feel like after 2011, ‘12, I was already starting to explore the idea in my mind of could I leave home? Could I try something different? And the world was growing. But yeah, 2013, I definitely was at least thinking about putting a foot out the door so, and that was a moment where I went, nope, nope. We’re clearly doing something right but, you know.." said Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes would go on to leave WWE in 2016 only to make a massive return at WrestleMania 38, where he defeated Seth Rollins.
Check out the website for The Dusty Rhodes Foundation, which aims to help sporting talents from disadvantaged and underserved communities.
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