Cody explains how Matt Cardona encouraged him to go back to WWE

[Liz]

During his appearance on After The Bell with Corey Graves and Vic Joseph, Cody Rhodes said that Matt Cardona, the man formerly known as Zack Ryder, was one of the handful of individuals who knew he was going back to WWE and actually encouraged it.

"He was in that very small circle of people when this initially was brought to me know. I told him everything, every detail, everything," Cody said, noting that he was surprised that Vic didn't know beforehand since he's friends with that "stooge!"

Cody said that Cardona was all for him going to WWE and while he was expecting him to say don't do it or go the other way, Cardona told him, "That's the ultimate undeniable. Come back and land in the fashion that you did."

The former TNT champion also said that those in his circle who knew he was going to WWE, he only had a concern from one individual as the rest were supportive. That individual was none other than Diamond Dallas Page.

"He came over to my house and he was really pensive. He brought up a good point. The last time I did something major in leaving WWE, he was of the same thought process. He gave me some tips on people to speak to and things to let people know before it all went down," Cody explained, saying DDP's concerns were more "fatherly" than anything else.

"For the most part, everyone who knew in that small circle was, 'Absolutely go do it,' which did surprise me," he said.