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Cody Rhodes shocked the wrestling world when he returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38. His former tag team partner, Lee Johnson, recently revealed his reaction to the historic moment.
Lee Johnson joined AEW in early 2020 as one of The Nightmare Family's recruits. Having been trained by QT Marshall, Johnson began teaming with Cody Rhodes in 2021 to battle his teacher.
Rhodes' decision to leave AEW was a surprise to many, but it may have had a bigger impact on the former Nightmare Family than anyone else. In a recent appearance on Ruthless Talk, Lee Johnson opened up about The American Nightmare's return to WWE:
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"Just shock, I guess is the only word that, you know, I can say. I was very shocked. But also I understand that Cody had to do what it was that Cody felt was best for him. So I always have a lot of love for him, you know. So, yeah, I guess just shocked was really all that I felt in the moment. I'm sure a lot of wrestling fans, a lot of coworkers, et cetera, probably just felt the same way." [From 19:27 to 19:54]
Cody Rhodes dismisses narratives surrounding his AEW departure
When Cody Rhodes left AEW in early 2022, rumors swirled of a falling-out with Tony Khan and his former partners in The Elite. While The American Nightmare has flat-out denied these rumors many times, they are still prevalent among wrestling fans.
In a recent interview with Inside the Ropes, Rhodes addressed the narratives around his departure and the temptation to set them straight:
"The temptation comes from maybe a fear of it getting away from reality and truth because it's so easy to have a blue check, say something, and nobody fact-checks it. ... I don't want my legacy to be, in any way, I don't want elements that are fabricated or lied about becoming truth. That's where the temptation is to speak up and say, 'No, here's what happened.'"
Rhodes has been complimentary of AEW since his departure, and the same has been true in reverse, as Tony Khan and The Young Bucks have shown their appreciation for The American Nightmare multiple times. Whether Rhodes will ever return to the promotion he helped build remains to be seen.
