Google couldn't verify that this account belongs to you, but I have the password

I entered the password to an email I haven't accessed in awhile, then it sent a verification to the recovery email. Logged into that, got the verification code, and then it asks for phone verification. To verify it's you, enter a phone number (meaning there isn't one already on there, so how is that verification????). The message said, we couldn't verify it's you, try again later. Isn't that weird? How long should I wait before trying again. If the password was incorrect, would it have shown a different message?