10 Best Stories Of First Time Wrestlers Met Vince McMahon

For Cody Rhodes, his first time properly meeting Vince McMahon came after the 2007 Hall of Fame ceremony, where Dusty was inducted as the headline act.

As he explained to WWE.com back in 2014, Vince requested to speak to Cody after his speech inducting the American Dream into the HOF.

“I went into Vince’s office and that’s when I knew I had a place here. He said, ‘For your age, the amount of composure you had was just wonderful and I enjoyed watching it. I hope to enjoy watching it more in the future.’ I was uncomfortable, so I ended the conversation even though it was his job to end the conversation. Instead, I shook his hand, slapped him on the shoulder really hard and said, ‘You sure will!’ and walked out of the room."

Rhodes then realised he sounded like an arrogant ass, but he became emotional at the realisation of the pressure that was now on him by McMahon's faith in him and by having the last name Rhodes.

In that '14 interview, Cody - who was under his Stardust gimmick back then - also added how all he's ever wanted was to be "Vince’s star player".

Skip ahead to 2016, the American Nightmare saw that he wasn't even going to be afforded an opportunity to be that "star player" and thus left the company. It's almost like Cody realised the proverbial brass ring was all just as load of VKM bullsh*t.