Cody Rhodes Thought John Mayer Ticket Request Was a Rib—Until He Showed Up

Cody Rhodes just added a wild backstage tale to the All In legacy—one that involves Grammy winner John Mayer, a late-night email, and a seat smack in the middle of a packed aisle.

While speaking with his wife Brandi Rhodes on the What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, Cody looked back on the original 2018 All In event. The show, which helped ignite the movement that would eventually become AEW, was already sold out and over capacity when something unexpected happened in the middle of the night.

Cody explained that he got an odd email around 3 a.m., and at first, he assumed it was a prank.

“Anyways, I get an email. 3 AM. From John Mayer’s manager. There’s a bachelor party, they wanna attend All In. The original All In, which had been very, very sold out—fire code sold out.”

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Thinking it was just a wrestling rib, he ignored it. That is, until someone caught him as he was heading out that morning.

“At that point, I just thought it was a rib. A good wrestling rib. And then at 9 AM when I left the hotel room, I was greeted by someone right at the door saying to me, ‘Hey, did you deny John Mayer tickets?’ And I did not. I just didn’t think it was real!”

It wasn’t a joke. Mayer and his bachelor party showed up—and with no open seats left, they improvised.

“Apparently, it was a bachelor party. So we sat him in the middle of the aisle. As I’m wrestling Nick Aldis, I look out into the aisle where you can clearly see where people are supposed to walk… and then there’s just John Mayer, sitting right in the middle. If there was a fire, it would’ve been a bad situation. But it was a really fun get.”

Mayer didn’t just sneak in and dip. He stayed, took pictures, and gave Cody an unexpected symbol of credibility during a time when All In was still being dismissed as too indie for mainstream recognition.

“Took some photos afterwards. That’s how you knew it wasn’t just a carny operation. We had f**ing John Mayer in the crowd.”

The story not only gave fans a laugh, but also added weight to Cody’s argument that All In was more than just a DIY wrestling show—it had real momentum, and it was pulling in celebrities on its own terms.