Ahead of Saturday’s WWE Royal Rumble PLE, Cody Rhodes continues to make the media rounds as speculation grows on if he will be finishing his story at WrestleMania 40 of if the show will be headlined by Roman Reigns vs. The Rock.
Cody Rhodes on being on the cover of the WWE 2K24 video game:
“We were just filming a bit over there where they unveiled the cover. At this point, I have seen the cover, but honestly, just doing it then and seeing it in a larger setting really kind of took me out of it just because it’s you have these milestones and these things that you want to hit, you know, if you want to be a WWE superstar, pro wrestler, or whatever it is, and so many people shoot for the moon and you fall short of it. It seems like this run back, it’s just been, I don’t know another way to put it other than stupid fun.”
On being able to come back to WWE as The American Nightmare:
“Well, I feel like WWE really kind of upheld their end as far as, you know, I brought what I was doing at the time, the American Nightmare, the music, the gear, just everything. I really found who I wanted to be as a sports entertainer and a pro wrestler, but they’ve made it larger. I really do feel like it’s such a great collaborative element. I’ll give you a specific example. Kevin Dunn who directs everything you see, the woes that are happening wouldn’t have happened had he not timed it out. I never even thought to do it, time it out, blow the sky up when it happens and he made an entrance for me that I’m so excited to do and when I don’t get the chance to do it, I feel like I gypped the audience. So it feels very collaborative.”
On facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania:
“The idea that one of the Rhodes would be walking out last with an absolute WWE franchise built monster like Roman Reigns that really is so good at all of this. So I mean, when we have to say superstar over and over again, he’s the reason because he really is more than just a wrestler. He is a superstar and to be able to stand across from him and have that energy of, you know, 80,000 people wanting what I wanted and it’s all real, that’s still surreal to me. Every now and then on YouTube, something will come up from that night and it feels like it was yesterday. All I learned from that experience was I just want to get back. I want to chase that one more time.”
If he feels The Rock is standing in his way to get to WrestleMania:
“I said something on the interview the other day where I feel like I kind of regretted how I answered it because I just sounded like a schmuck when I was saying it, but I mean it’s honestly kind of the same answer. No. I don’t think so, which is shocking. I get to be able to be a WWE superstar and stand on the shoulders of guys like The Rock. Had they not delivered and excelled and brought sports entertainment to the level it’s at, we wouldn’t have all this, none of this. So I have all the respect and love for a guy who filled every house up he was ever in, but when it comes to that specific, I don’t consider him in my way. Maybe I’m being naive to it. Maybe he wants to get in. I don’t know. But I don’t consider him in my way. The Rock is one of the main reasons we’re here today. Nothing but respect, but also at the same time, I have to have the respect for myself to know where I’d like to go.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit ESPN with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Quotes were transcribed by Jim for WrestlingNews.co.
