On his podcast, What Do You Wanna Talk About?, while interviewing Becky Lynch, Cody Rhodes recounted the frightening ordeal. He revealed that the incident happened during WrestleMania season, and at the time, he was under stress and had been staying on his bus rather than with family. “The part of the story people don’t know (...) before I went to bed, I might have had a few drinks,” he admitted. Rhodes recalled being exhausted and eager for just a short rest when the peace was shattered. “I was pretty tired, so I’m definitely really excited to go to sleep for like 30 minutes. And then I hear, like, just a loud... I don’t really know how to describe it... just like, two bangs, and I thought they were gunshots.”

Rhodes said he was ordered to get out immediately, and once outside, he realized how severe the fire was. He compared the flames to the spectacle of the Mummy ride at Universal Studios. “And then I just see this giant hole and this fire running up and down the bus – and again, had a few drinks, super tired – I grab my picture of my family, I grab my boots, and I’m looking at the bus and I’m looking at the bus like ‘I had more time...’”

Thankfully, nobody was injured, though the bus was completely destroyed. Rhodes joked about his state of mind at the time, recalling that he briefly considered running back inside to save more belongings. Instead, he ran over to Seth Rollins in the freezing night air. “He was just looking at me like ‘You okay, man?’ He knew there was a fire, of course... but he’s looking at me and he could tell I’m shell-shocked. I’m in, what I would qualify as like pajamas, like Cesaro-high shorts and just a tank top and I’m just shaking and he’s just, like, looking at me.”

Rhodes remembered that two men tried to break into the bus with a hatchet in an attempt to stop the flames while the fire department was still on the way. “Then they start backing Miz’s bus up, I’m like: this thing’s gonna blow up! This bus is gonna blow up!” he exclaimed. Rhodes then explained that while the Philadelphia Fire Department successfully put out the blaze, their response came with a twist. “They destroyed the bus. Because they just got up there, and they blasted it, and then they drove off!” According to him, the firefighters did not even stick around to confirm they were done. Later that same day, Rhodes even filmed a “fake” arrival segment on the burnt-out bus.

The terrifying incident ended without injury, but it left Rhodes shaken. It was a reminder that not all of the dangers he has faced in his career have come in the ring.