Add as a preferred source on Google MJF and Cody Rhodes had one of the defining relationships of AEW’s early years, but as it turns out, the start of that connection was fairly chaotic.
Speaking with Brian R. Solomon on Shut Up And Wrestle, MJF recalled meeting Rhodes at an Alpha-1 Wrestling show in Canada after a prank involving Ethan Page and Page’s sister.
“The very first time I met Cody Rhodes was at Alpha-1 in Canada. He had told the promoter, who may or may not be Ethan Page, that I was hitting on his sister. Granted, I wouldn’t put it past me, but I actually wasn’t. The sister of Ethan Page.”
According to MJF, Cody had told the event promoter, who “may or may not be Ethan Page,” that he was hitting on Page’s sister. That led Page to confront the young wrestler, who then decided to go straight to Rhodes.
“Ethan Page walks up to me and goes, ‘Hey man, are you fcking hitting on my sister?’ I said, ‘Buddy, if I was, you would know, she’d be my girlfriend by now.’ Then we got into it a little bit and I was just like, ‘Who told you this?’ He goes, ‘Cody told me this.’ I had two options. I could just eat it, which 99.9% of talent in my position at that point at 19 years old who was an absolute fcking nobody would have done. Or, I could confront this guy, who at the time and also now was a big f*cking deal in the business.
“So, because I’m an unwell person, I chose the latter. I walked into his locker room, he had his own locker room at this fcking place. I didn’t knock on the door, I just opened it and I said, ‘Hey.’ He’s looking at me in disbelief. I go, ‘Why the fck did you tell the booker I’m trying to bang his sister?’ He was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ I go, ‘Dude, please don’t make me bring Ethan down here, he’ll collaborate.’ He starts laughing and he goes, ‘Who are you, man?’ Then we just started shooting the sh*t. From that moment on, I could tell he got a kick out of me because, especially on the independent level, was probably not used to people talking like that. He’ll be the first person to tell you, Cody Rhodes loves a good white lie, he says it all the time.”
Today, all three names are in very different places. MJF is in AEW as the current AEW World Champion, while Cody Rhodes is the current Undisputed WWE Champion. Ethan Page, meanwhile, was called up to the main roster after WrestleMania 42.