Long before he settled down and started a family with Brandi Rhodes, Cody Rhodes dated former WWE Women’s Champion Layla El. Long before Cody captured the WWE Championship, Layla was also one of the first to envision a shining future for him.
“Absolutely. I 100% saw that,” Layla told “Sportshadow Wrestling” when asked if she predicted Cody’s meteoric rise to WWE’s top title. “I started dating Cody because I knew he was going to be a star. He had a lot of dreams. Everything that he told me that he was going to do, he’s done it. So congratulations to him because for someone who can tell you their dreams and they’re going to make it happen and they do make it happen, congratulations. I mean, of course I saw it because I wouldn’t have dated him or been with him if I didn’t see everything that people will see now.”
Cody and Layla’s romantic relationships formed in the early 2010s; both of them served as “WWE SmackDown” roster members at the time. In her case, Layla went on to win the WWE Women’s and Divas Championships. Cody, meanwhile, bounced around WWE’s mid-card and tag divisions until his exit from the company in May 2016.
In the years following, Cody branched out to other promotions, notably TNA Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and All Elite Wrestling. During this time, Cody famously reinvented himself into “The American Nightmare” as well, with fans and peers describing his transformation as going from undesirable to undeniable.
Cody later returned to WWE in 2022. Two years later, he claimed the WWE Championship by conquering Roman Reigns on the grandest stage, WrestleMania. By 2026, Cody is now a three-time world champion.
Layla Recalls Cody Carrying Her Luggage Through Airports
Earlier this year, Cody recalled (via “Six Feet Under”) bringing the WWE Women’s Championship, then split in half to reflect Layla and Michelle McCool’s on-screen friendship, to television tapings. In the process, Cody noted that airport officials would often inspect and question his luggage that contained the title. After multiple instances, Cody then began to tell TSA agents that he collected belts, instead of explaining LayCool’s dynamic and his corresponding relationship to Layla.
According to Layla, Cody was “exaggerating” his account. He did, however, transport her half of the Women’s Title at least once.
“Sometimes I pack a lot more than usual. I do remember he just wanted to get through security quickly and stuff like that, so he grabbed the title and he goes, ‘Okay, let me put this in my bag. Let me put this in your bag,'” Layla said. “I was like, ‘Okay.’ Then I remember going through security and I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ He’s like [shifting his eyes]. Then they’re all looking at him weird. Then when the guy pulls it up, it says half of the Women’s Championship. I remember he’s just standing there, and he goes ‘It belongs to her, my girlfriend,’ and then they kind of all laughed it off. He exaggerated. That happened one time.”
Regardless of the differences in their stories, Layla hailed Cody as an overall “gentleman” for his kindness, with him routinely carrying her baggage through airport security as they traveled to various cities for WWE-related appearances.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Sportshadow Wrestling” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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