WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Bella was a guest on the latest episode of Cody Rhodes' podcast, What Do You Wanna Talk About?, and the American Nightmare made a startling admission while reflecting on his time as Stardust.
Admitting that he'd reached the end of his tether, Rhodes said he considered walking away from the professional wrestling business entirely. In reality, he left WWE, hit the independent scene, helped Ring of Honor sell out an arena, and was ultimately one of AEW's founding fathers.
"If wrestling was to go away tomorrow? I’d be an amateur wrestling coach, like a high school wrestling coach. Yes, that was my plan," Rhodes shared. "Shockingly, you’re gonna be like, 'What?' But around the time we got cut at WrestleMania, and around the time Stardust popped up, I was going to get my degree so that in the public school system in Georgia, I could be an amateur wrestling coach."
"I had completely given up on entertainment, on ever making it. I thought I’d done everything right. I was very pity party. Feel sorry for myself, all those things. Couldn’t get a look left or right."
"And you know, a series of things happened in my life where now I look back and I’m like, 'Man, what the..? Who were you? You weren’t you,'" Rhodes continued. "Weren’t you? It’s like a gap of a few years of not being me, the journey."
Bella shared her own perspective on struggling to find success in WWE, and responded to the former Undisputed WWE Champion's comments by saying, "I feel like we have to have those times in our life, because then they make us who we are. It’s like we can’t always be on the rise. Can’t always be at the top of the ladder. We have to fall at times."
"We rise up from the ashes like the Phoenix. I believe we need those spots in our journey, those losses, and then it makes us the champ we are today," she concluded.
Since returning to WWE, Rhodes has risen to the top of the card, becoming one of the company's most popular Superstars. However, there are indications that a heel turn could be planned as soon as SummerSlam.
You can watch the full interview with Rhodes and Nikki in the player below.