AEW: The Real Meaning Behind Cody Rhodes' Entrance

By Simon Gallagher / May 27, 2019

Watching Cody Rhodes' entrance at Double Or Nothing - during which he took a sledgehammer handed to him by his fellow "authority figure wife to a throne - it was impossible not to see the connotations that most people have leapt to in the aftermath. Surely, this was an attack on Triple H?

The sledgehammer is almost an ubiquitous image from Triple H's WWE career, as much a symbol of him as Jericho's list, Hogan's moustache or Austin's beer cans. More so, in fact, than all of them. So to see Cody symbolically taking apart a throne with it in the manner that he did, while Brandi Rhodes offered an unspoken mirror of Stephanie McMahon by his side was definitely a very precise, very loaded decision.

Perhaps that was down to Triple H's reference to AEW as a "piss-ant" company on the eve of WrestleMania 35? Perhaps it was just Cody finally casting off the ghosts of his recent past?

Well, not according to Rhodes himself. He spoke to the media in the wake of Double Or Nothing to reveal the real meaning of the entrance. And no, it wasn't a shot at Triple H or WWE, it was a little more complex than that:

However, Cody spoke to the media after Double or Nothing, and revealed that whilst his entrance was symbolic, it was not a shot at Triple H, nor his former employers [transcript courtesy of Cageside Seats]:

“Okay, so, I had a literal dream about this type of entrance. I loved when Triple H came out at WrestleMania 30 and he was kind of like Shao Kahn and it was really cool. The throne kind of symbolized his reign, and, man, I want to play ball. I know we don’t say ‘competition’ but it stands for itself. I also want people to know this role, this Executive Vice President role, which I love and I’m excited about, I want to be a wrestler first. And that’s great, we were able to do that tonight. Tony Khan sat in Gorilla and timed the show. That takes years how to learn. Gerald Brisco, he was like the only guy who could do it for a long time. Tony did it tonight on his first try.

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“So they don’t always need us there in those executive roles. We were able to go out there and be wrestlers. And that, more than anything… not so much a shot at Triple H, more a shot at I’m not ready to dive into that role and lean into it. I want to be a wrestler first and foremost. I’m not done. I know that people think Kenny (Omega) is the best, and I know that people think Chris (Jericho) is the best, and now Jon Moxley is the best — I’m always going to be wondering ‘what can I do? What’s the step?”

So, it was a reference to Triple H, but more of a celebration with an added side of Cody smashing expectations that he's going to be an authority figure sitting on a throne and not doing the business in the ring first and foremost.

Which... to be honest... pretty much still sounds like a dig at Triple H, no matter how it's presented, doesn't it? At least it's a positive spin on the authority expectation, anyway.