Cody Rhodes Opens Up About Unreported Backstage Outburst During WrestleMania 42 Build

Cody Rhodes has admitted he had a backstage meltdown during the chaotic build to WrestleMania 42 — one that somehow never made its way into the wrestling press — but says the moment ended up being a turning point in how he handles adversity.

Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, Rhodes described the outburst in self-deprecating terms: muttering expletives, yelling, and knocking over water bottles. Not exactly a full-blown locker room implosion, but enough to give him pause once he got back to his bus. “I don’t need to be having temper tantrums, I need to be providing solutions,” he said, reflecting on how he felt about his own reaction in the moment.

As for what set him off, Rhodes was cagey but offered a hint — he believes it was likely triggered by an F-bomb being dropped in the ring. On a PG-rated WWE broadcast, that kind of slip gets the feed blacked out domestically, and Rhodes, who describes himself as “genuinely a goody-two-shoes,” said he cares about that standard. “You’ve got kids in the crowd,” he noted. “Their first experience with the F-word doesn’t need to come at a WWE show.”

The broader context for the outburst was one of the more unpredictable WrestleMania builds in recent memory. Rhodes was set to defend the WWE Championship against Randy Orton in the Night One main event — a match with nearly 20 years of history behind it — when TKO and Ari Emanuel inserted Pat McAfee into the storyline to help drive ticket sales. Jelly Roll was also brought into the mix. By the time the match was over, McAfee had taken an RKO from Orton himself.

Despite the turbulence, Rhodes said he came out of the experience proud of how he ultimately handled it. He credited the influence of his late father Dusty Rhodes and Triple H in shaping his mindset, specifically their ability to navigate unusual situations with composure. He also took a moment to defend Triple H’s position, calling him the hardest-working booker in the history of the business — and acknowledging that the job of running WWE’s creative is one that genuinely interests him someday.

For Rhodes, the lesson from the whole saga seems clear: a brief backstage flare-up aside, he came out the other side feeling like he’d matured into a different kind of leader.