Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes recently appeared on the “SI Media with Jimmy Traina” podcast to talk about his return to WWE and winning the title from Roman Reigns at the biggest WrestleMania event of all time.
Cody Rhodes on when he realized the match he was going to have with Roman Reigns was awesome:
“I knew from the moment I did my entrance that we were in some rare air. I knew then because there was a feeling, and not unlike the feeling of WrestleMania 39, there was a feeling just in the air of the potential change and the big fight feel that sometimes when we say it on commentary, there’s not a big fight feel, but it’s a great little way to describe or maybe perceive something. This was very much a big fight feel and it kind of continued and snowballed into Roman and I looking at each other in the ring. You can see it on camera, but he said, ‘One more dance.’ and I thought, ‘Oh, we are cruising into something.’ He just came so dialed in and so prepared. Just outstanding. I guess the way to put it is it felt like everything that was happening, hit. Everything that was happening was succeeding and that’s just such a beautiful piece of music to write because that audience, I’ll forever have some link to Philly. I mean, it’s a worldwide audience that comes to WrestleMania, but it was really special that that happened in Philly. I have a lot of love for Philly as people know and they were with me the whole way from the beginning to the celebration.”
Cody was asked if we are going to experience more of an edge with Rock swearing as on WWE programming as they are headed into Netflix:
“I think it’s a situation where I said how much respect I have for The Rock. It gets to a point though where you have so much respect that you put your hands down. I had been really diplomatic. It wasn’t so much that it wasn’t working with the fans as much as I don’t think it was resonating with him. It just was a moment, specifically the one interview I did. I was wearing a black suit I remember and that’s where the LDS came in and all of that going in calling him carny. I wanted to just speak his language. He came from that era of that cutthroat crash TV. He’s been in every era, but I wanted to just speak his language and let him know someone, if not a few people on this current roster can speak your language if you’d like. In a weird way, because the fans in the arena loved it, it was a huge joy to this interview that I did, however, for me, I felt a little guilty because I have a lot of young, young fans and I would never want them to ask their mom about LDS or this and that. I remember telling myself like, ‘Hey, man, there’s like 20,000 YouTube videos of me on BTE cursing and yelling and ridiculous stuff, but just my run with WWE has been really, really for the family audience and really for the little nightmares, these little kiddos, and I just wouldn’t want to lead them astray in any way and hopefully that interview didn’t turn them off to me as if I am their guy, as their guy. Everyone afterwards was so pumped about it. My wife was digging it and I remember thinking I felt a little guilty.”
Cody Rhodes talking about his bus catching fire:
“The air conditioning unit on top of the bus completely exploded. I was in bed. I thought it was a gunshot because all the buses were in the same area and I thought maybe we were getting robbed. We were literally in a back alley at Lincoln Financial. We were parked alongside it. The bus, the air conditioning unit blows up. I hear my driver yell, ‘We got to get off this bus.’ I can hear his feet running. I thought it probably wasn’t going to be that big of a thing. I grab my stuff. I opened the door and the only way I can describe it when I open the bedroom door is if you’ve ever been on the Mummy ride at Universal Studios. There’s an effect where they light the ceiling up with fire where it comes in and it creeps down the ceiling. That’s what I was looking at. So now I’m of the thought, this bus was definitely blowing up. My wife is on it. For whatever reason, A, because I’m a psycho wrestler, and B because I do this all for my family, I grabbed my boots for night one and I grabbed a picture of the girls. I ran out in my shorts, no shirt, windy, rainy. freezing cold there in Philly and I just saw the fireball on the top of the bus. So then I went and got the fire extinguisher thinking maybe I can help. One of the other drivers rushed me to the other bus and said, ‘Just get over here.’ Seth and I were watching the fireball on this bus. I think the scariest part for me was they started backing up the Miz’ bus as if, hey, this bus is gonna blow up. We’ve got to get this one out here and I thought oh, how is this happening a few days before WrestleMania. Then the next thing you know, the fire department there in Philly pulled right in, blasted that bus, and saved it. That bus will eventually roll again.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit SI Media Podcast with Jimmy Traina with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Quotes were transcribed by Jim for WrestlingNews.co.
