Ex-WWE Star – “AJ Lee Slept Around A Lot,” JBL Slams Out Of Control Fans For Mobbing Rhea Ripley, Cody Rhodes Recalls Jumping Ship From AEW To WWE

— Despite already stirring controversy by calling CM Punk a “b****” and a “creep,” Matt Riddle has now turned his attention to Punk’s wife, AJ Lee.

During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Riddle was asked about a charity event he skipped, and the topic of Lee came up. Instead of offering praise, Riddle chose to take a shot at her WWE past, saying,

“I know. AJ, you know, I had no problems with her. She never stepped into. I mean, to be fair, and I’m not one to talk, I’m a little slutty myself, but she did get around from what I heard. But no disrespect to that.”

“Hey, it’s whatever. People like to hook up, and if it’s the worst thing you did, whatever, I’ve done it too. But, yeah, no ill will towards anyone. I have no ill will towards CM Punk.”

When asked if he ever hooked up with female talent, Riddle referenced Candy Cartwright. He said,

“I’ve never hooked up with another female talent in WWE or anywhere else. That’s not really my. No. Oh, no, no, no. I mean, I did hook up with that Candy Cartwright chick who tried to MeToo me. End of the day, complete liar. She wasn’t booked on any of the shows.”

“Do you know how crazy it is? Oh, I’m being sexually assaulted, but I fly myself to every show and work for free selling t-shirts. Come on, bro. Yeah. Come on, dude. Look at the facts just like this situation. Look at the facts. Poorly promoting show, first time running. And then, and then they did all the things I just mentioned.”

“Well, if you’re bashing me, you can go f*** yourself. You know, why don’t you go subscribe to my OF and see what a real man looks like, b****.”

— On a recent episode of his “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast, Cody Rhodes admitted that he never expected his 2022 meeting with Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard to pave the way for his WWE comeback.

Rhodes had departed AEW earlier that year before officially making his return at WrestleMania 38.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

Cody Rhodes on meeting with Bruce Prichard and Vince McMahon: “[Bruce Prichard] and I and Vince [McMahon], having a meeting when I was out of contract, essentially working (…) and then looking into what could happen next. I’ve told people that I always was of the thought that meeting would be a good meeting.”

Bruce Prichard on their goals with the meeting: “Our anticipation and our expectation, frankly, was one of ‘Hey man, Cody, we want you to come home’. And that was our sole purpose, was, to say ‘Come home. The door’s open and we’re glad you went away and did what you did, very happy for you; we feel that the best place for you is back home.’”

Bruce Prichard on being deadset on getting a deal: “There was feeling on our side: we will not leave until we have, at least, a handshake agreement as far as what the future was going to be and what the future was going to be with you. So, yeah, we had a plan and it happened pretty quickly!”

Cody Rhodes on how quickly things moved: “Even though I was really well structured and prepared and had things I wanted to talk about and also wanted to be there in a moment – it hit me like a car wreck. It hit me like a car wreck, one where you’re not hurt; one where you’re shocked. I asked you what I should do and what you said to me was the best answer, but not the best answer … You said ‘I think you know what you should do.’”

Cody Rhodes on talking to Brandi and realizing he couldn’t say no: “Seth Rollins? WrestleMania? As me? Changing nothing? Keeping the music? Yes! That was a very fun, fun experience.”

— On a recent episode of the “Something To Wrestle With” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer JBL spoke about incidents where fans have mobbed wrestlers, referencing the recent situation involving Rhea Ripley in Paris, France.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

On fans mobbing wrestlers: “I think two things. I think it’s wonderful that fans care that much, and I think it’s very dangerous, also. And again, the fans get overzealous. They can’t do that. I think now security is correct, and you really need security there for situations like this. I mean, fans have to take it upon themselves. You know, the first person that runs up there and tries to get a selfie with [Ripley], then the next person will run up too. I mean, I understand they’re overzealous, and thank goodness that they are. But this is dangerous. You know, this is where an incident happens where somebody pushes somebody, somebody tries to grab a wallet, somebody does something, grab something they’re not supposed to, male or female. And all of a sudden somebody gets punched or something, you know? I mean, this is a recipe for disaster, absolute disaster.

On WWE handling it with security: “The fans, I understand, are being overzealous. Thank God that they are. But somebody has to rein this in. And thank goodness now. WWE is certainly handling it with the security.”

On seeing issues first hand: “Yeah. And of course, you know, Stone Cold had it bad, Rock had it really bad too. You know, those guys were [on a] different level. But yeah, we had it some. I’ll tell you a funny story about WrestleMania. Well, you know, me and Michael Cole used to do the whole WrestleMania for five hours. You know, we’d sit out there, we’d have to quit drinking water like a couple hours before, because we were out there the entire time. It was brutal. And everybody’s like, ‘Poor baby, you couldn’t pee for five hours. You poor baby. You’re so mistreated,’ while I’m calling WrestleMania. so I get it. But I’m sitting there one day and I see a bathroom there that’s just right off the stadium level. And so I asked the security guard, I said, ‘Is that private or not?’ He goes, ‘No, no, it’s private.’ I said, There’ll be no fans there, right?’ And he said, ‘No no, no fans.’ I said, ‘Okay, cool.’

“So I’m sitting there in commentary leading up to the show. I’m drinking water, I’m drinking my energy drink. And all of a sudden, Michael Cole says, ‘You’ll never make it five hours.’ And I go, ‘Oh, I ain’t worried about it.’ I’m just drinking my stuff, I’m kayfabing Michael. So we have a long video package, it’s like four or five minutes. I’ve been waiting for this. I get up and I run the bathroom. Michael Cole goes, ‘You ba*tard!’ So I run to the bathroom, and it’s supposed to be private. Well, because the video package is playing, everybody’s rushed the bathroom. It’s not private. It’s full. It’s probably a bathroom that could hold maybe 20 people; it’s probably got 50 people in it. I mean, they’re just lined up. And I walk in, everybody’s like, ‘JBL!’ And I’m going to tuxedo and everything.”

On how he reacted to the situation: “I said, ‘Guys, I’m sorry. I didn’t know this. This was a public restroom.’ I said, ‘I gotta be back out at the booth in less than two minutes.’ I said, ‘Can I cut in front of everybody? I’m sorry to ask this.’ And the guys go, ‘Let him pee!’ And then now they’re all chanting, ‘Let him pee! Let him pee! Let him pee!’ I mean, crowded around. So I’m at the urinal. I’m trying to pee. It’s like everybody’s going, ‘Let him pee! Let him pee!’ And they’re all chanting for me to use the bathroom. And guys are trying to take selfies with me. So guys are coming up to me. I’m sitting there holding my johnson. ‘Guys please stop. Stop.’ Yeah, it was an absolute nightmare.”