Cody Rhodes shared a humorous backstage story about WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson during Tyson’s appearance at AEW’s Double Or Nothing 2020 PPV.
Tyson, there to present the TNT Championship after Cody’s match, observed other wrestlers prepping with oil and resistance bands. Feeling unsure about what he should do, Tyson approached Rhodes with a surprising question: “Do I need oil?”
Despite Tyson’s role not requiring him to remove his shirt, he took it off, handed Cody the oil, and asked him to apply it. Cody, eager to maintain a good relationship with the legendary boxer, obliged. After Cody oiled him up, Tyson unexpectedly put his shirt back on, leaving Cody amused and questioning the purpose of the whole exercise.
Reflecting on the moment, Cody remarked on how special and memorable the interaction was, even though it was somewhat puzzling. He described Tyson as a sweet and approachable person, adding that helping him was an honor.
Here’s what Cody said on the 2 Bears 1 Cave podcast:
“My only moments with Mike Tyson, and I will treasure this memory forever. I think he was just ringside for one of my matches, presenting the championship after it ended.
Backstage, he saw other wrestlers getting ready, and he seemed—I don’t want to say out of it, because he was the sweetest, most wonderful person to talk to—but he was quiet and looked a little like a deer in headlights. He was watching all the guys oiling up, using bands, and pumping themselves up.
I was getting ready to head out, and since I was also in a management role at the time, I was directing some shot or something. He just looked at me and asked, ‘Do I need oil?’
It was one of those moments where I thought, ‘This is Mike Tyson, a guy I admire so much—I need this relationship to go well.’ So, I was thinking to myself, ‘Does he actually believe he needs oil?’ I said, ‘Yeah, sure, sure.’
Then he took his shirt off. Now, mind you, Mike didn’t even need to take his shirt off for this. He’s standing there, no belt on his jeans, shirtless, and looking at me. This is one of the greatest fighters of all time, someone I truly respect, and he hands me the bottle and says, ‘You do it.’
He put a little on his hands and rubbed some on his chest, but then he turned around. So, I oiled him up. He looked great, honestly. I’ve oiled up other wrestlers before, so it wasn’t the strangest thing.
The weirdest part was what happened next. Right after that, he just threw his shirt right back on over it. I thought, ‘That’s not the point! Are you prepping to rip the shirt off or something?’ But he wasn’t doing anything like that that night.
I think he did take his shirt off at some point later, but yeah—I oiled up Mike Tyson. I always felt good about that decision. Dude wanted to oil up!”
Tyson did take his shirt off:
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