Cody Rhodes sat down with Joe Tessitore for an in-depth one-on-one interview ahead of his Undisputed WWE Championship defense against Gunther at WWE Clash In Italy on May 31 in Turin, Italy.
The following are some of the highlights.
On Gunther trying to make the match about U.S.A. vs. Europe: “That’s probably the trickiest question, right? But if Gunther wants to make this a versus America situation, that’s just not the road I’d go down. I don’t think that helps you no matter where we are. I said it to him. I have the American flag tattooed on the side of my neck, but he’s the one who’s making it weird. I learned a long time ago in wrestling that we’re never needing to make this about America versus or your home country versus. No, we don’t need to do that in 2026. Last time I lost was in Germany. I don’t want to be the dumb American that just assumes Germany is like Austria, and Austria is like Italy, and Italy is like France. They’re all their own extremely different thing. Europe is not a monolith, and I found that out, and here’s something that I would cite. The last time we were in Italy, there’s video of me in the ring saying, hey, if you guys want us to come back and bring a bigger show, make some noise for me. The international language that we all talk is pro wrestling. If Gunther needs me to play American villain in Italy, sure, he can think that. He can have that whole outlook on it. But for me, one of the most beautiful things about being an American right now in an extremely divided country is that we can still go everywhere and we can still show what we love to do and what you love to consume and watch, and we can agree on this thing. We can agree on wrestling. I am not in policy. I am not a politician. Some have said that I am, but I’m not, I go over there because the show is over there and they deserve the show everywhere in the world, and we have things about us that are different, and this goes for everywhere we go. We have different beliefs. We have different rules, we have different laws. My job as WWE champion is to bring this, to bring the thing that we agree on. So we don’t have to focus on the things that we don’t. So respectfully, Gunther can take that entire America versus him versus America, and he can shove it up his ass.”
On the aftermath of WrestleMania 42 and the challenges he has faced since then: “It felt very important. Coming just to Monday Night Raw, having an interaction unexpected at that with a CM Punk. It felt very important because you say QB1, what is QB1? If anything, and maybe the thing I’ve learned that QB1 is the most is consistent. There’s always a flavor of the month, right? There’s always some hot new thing and good for it. That’s exciting when the crowd can get behind something or something new shows up. But all my faves, all the QB1s before me were consistent. They were a week in and week out, and now there’s all these jokes about how I’ve really tried to follow the John Cena model, and I don’t mind those jokes at all, because that’s a hell of a mode, and I think most people run from it because it means work. It means work, and I’m also aware of the other QBs in WWE. If their strategy is less is more, if their strategy is more strategic, then I’m not gonna play that game. I’ll do it differently. I’ll be here every week and I’ll see this team every week. It’s not a matter of who’s right or wrong, it’s my preference. So to be shaken out of my preference would have been very difficult. Ricky Saints, comes to WWE debuts coming up from NXT. As much as he did it in a braggadocious, bullish way, and as much as he pulled my card in the way he did, I needed that. Thank you, Ricky Saints, because that’s the moment that I can say, all right, I am cleared, and not only am I cleared, we’re not gonna wait. We’re not gonna do this big presentation, and this less is more strategy to it. No, we’ll wrestle right here, we’ll wrestle tonight, Sami found that out as well. So I appreciate those guys shaking me out of any type of feeling down in the dumps because I shouldn’t have. I left WrestleMania and I even said that to CM Punk and it was a mistake to say it, that I didn’t feel so much like a winner and I had been, and I need those challengers. I need them. I’m addicted to the top spot. I’m not afraid to tell anybody that, and I needed them to come in when they did.”
Watch the complete Cody Rhodes interview with Joe Tessitore via the YouTube player embedded below.
