Summary

Triple H said he never viewed Cody Rhodes' throne smash at AEW Double or Nothing 2019 as a personal shot with lasting bad blood behind it.

During Rhodes' conversation with Triple H on *What Do You Wanna Talk About?*, the two finally revisited one of the defining images from Rhodes' first run outside WWE. Triple H said his immediate response was to support Rhodes for making a bold statement while trying to build himself into a bigger star away from the company.

The exchange also adds another layer to Rhodes' path back to WWE in 2022. That stretch outside the company, which included moments like the throne smash, helped turn him into a bigger attraction, much like Rhodes recently discussed when talking about how Brandi Rhodes chose silence to protect AEW after their exit.

Quotes

**Cody Rhodes:** "You never once, when I came back, asked me about clearly taking your throne, making it imagery in my entrance, away from here, starting my own thing, and taking your hammer to it."

**Triple H:** "I saw it as your hammer because it was smaller than mine (laughs). No, look, that kind of shit to me is like, I remember when people brought it to me and showing it to me and I was like, 'F**k yeah, good for him,' you know what I mean? That's the kind of shit you do. You're trying to make a name for yourself, you're trying to get out there, you're trying to do some cool shit, trying to do some different stuff. But believe me, if I would have thought there was malice in it, and maybe indirectly there was some at the time, I don't know, but if I would have thought there was any serious malice in it, I would have called you and said, 'Hey dude, like, are we okay?' Because I was so close to your dad, but then I always felt like a connection to you, and when you were here and it was difficult for me when you left because... I couldn't over the top go like, dude, get the fuck out of here and go out there and make a name for yourself and make yourself, what you said, desirable and we'll fucking come chasing after you and bring you back. Sometimes you got to get out of the rut you're in. You just got to bite it off and go in a different direction. Make the left turn, right? And it was so difficult but, during that time, I remember thinking like, alright, that's getting out there. That's being bold and making a statement."

**Cody Rhodes:** "You did tell me, because you said, 'Go rattle the cages,' and you kind of made yourself the target for me to rattle in terms of the optics of wrestling, and there was no malice for sure because this is after I won the Ring of Honor Title, one of the first texts I got back to was yours: 'Congrats,' as I was walking to the hospital in Lowell because my lip was busted open holding my first World Title."

**Triple H:** "You know, it's one of those things where you see somebody going off, doing their own thing and having success and I'm like, 'F*ck yeah. Cody, come on!' Like, get yourself in that spot where we're like, hey... I don't know what he did different but let's go get him."

**Cody Rhodes:** "Well, I'm glad the feeling is good on it versus, because I'm thinking, man, if he's mad about it, it's a long road to whatever the payoff is."

**Triple H:** "He's waiting on that receipt (laughs)."

**Cody Rhodes:** "Oh! Now it's happening."

**Triple H:** "No, man, I never even, I never thought about anything other than, 'F**k yeah, good for him. Go get it.'"

Cody Rhodes and Triple H now

Triple H's comments frame the throne smash less as a grudge point and more as part of the run that made Rhodes impossible for WWE to ignore. That matters because Rhodes is no longer the wrestler trying to prove he belongs. He came back in 2022 as a made man, and Triple H's explanation makes clear that the imagery from Double or Nothing fit that larger rise rather than damaging their relationship.

It also closes the loop on one of AEW's most memorable early visuals. Rhodes used the moment to announce a new chapter, and Triple H now says he saw the same thing in real time, a wrestler taking a risk to force the industry to pay attention.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.