AJ Styles thought he had a clear picture of how one of the most memorable moments from his 2024 rivalry with Cody Rhodes was supposed to unfold. Cody’s mother apparently had a different plan entirely.
Speaking on Cody’s podcast “What Do You Wanna Talk About?”, Styles looked back on their I Quit Match at Clash at the Castle 2024 and laughed recalling that Cody’s mother was only supposed to slap him once during the segment and instead, she caught up in the moment and hit him three times.
Styles joked that he had no idea why she kept going, speculating she maybe felt the first slap wasn’t convincing enough, and said despite how sweet she normally is, in the moment he found himself internally bracing to unleash a little extra intensity on her son in response.
Of course, we had two great matches. The I Quit Match—your mom was awesome. Your mom slapped me three times. She was supposed to slap me once. I don’t know why she did that. Why did she go three times? I don’t know. Maybe she didn’t think the first one was good enough. And she’s the sweetest person in the world, so I’m just like, ‘Wham, wham, wham.’ I’m like, ‘Three times? All right. Okay, here we go. I’m gonna smash your son’s head in for that.’
Cody admitted he noticed Styles’ reaction as it happened and wondered aloud whether Styles had secretly encouraged his mother to keep swinging. Styles shut that theory down immediately, insisting he never asked for the extra shots, she simply got swept up in the moment.
