Cody Rhodes speaks out after backstage brawl with Kevin Owens at WWE event

WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes has spoken out about the backstage brawl between him and Kevin Owens. The two superstars went viral recently after mobile phone footage of a fight between the pair leaked on online.

The video, presumably captured by a fan, was shared widely on social media and prompted WWE head of creative Triple H to announce that the incident will be dealt with 'internally'. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Triple H said: "We are aware of the incident outside of the arena last night between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. The matter will be dealt with internally."

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The altercation happened after Rhodes had won his tag team bout at Bad Blood inside the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, where his tag teammate and former foe, Roman Reigns, pinned Solo Sikoa thanks to an assist from the returning Jimmy Uso.

After the show went off the air, the champion and Owens came to blows in the car park.

Speaking to the MEN about the moment, Rhodes said: "I'd be foolish to try and tell you anything different because the entire video exists online and you can see every inch of it. I'll try and keep my remarks short in terms of how I feel but I will tell you this.

"It's a very passionate industry, everybody wants the north star of our business which is the WWE championship and the championship that I hold at this time. I don't know if you'll see this unfold on screens, on Smackdown, on Raw or when we come overseas.

"Pro Wrestling and sports entertainment tends to like dive into that. Perhaps it does, or perhaps its dealt internally. I overall, I did feel very happy about my match at Bad Blood. I was happy for the city of Atlanta, that being the city that raised me.

"Everything happened and appeared and I was happy for Atlanta and the WWE because it feels like the road to Wrestlemania started early this year."

While Rhodes didn't divulge too much information about the matter and how it will be dealt with exactly, he was very vocal about his upcoming match with current nemesis Sola Soka in Manchester.

The pair will be going head to head in a cage match as the main the event for the WWE Live show at the Co-Op Live Arena on Wednesday 16 October. "I have a lot of exciting matches left on the table," said Rhodes.

"One of the things I'm excited about coming to Manchester is that we're doing a cage match. You usually only see the cage match at one of the big pay-per-view events. This makes it clear that I'm not done with that particular individual (Solo Soka).

"In terms of where I'd like to get to by Wrestlemania, I would think that Roman Reigns will step in start handling is own Bloodline business and allow me to handle business elsewhere. Until then I have no qualms about fighting Solo Sikoa."

Tickets for WWE Live in Manchester on Wednesday, October 16th, are available now from Ticketmaster