Undisputed WWE Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes discussed various topics with Joe Tessitore, including being punted by “The Viper” Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42.
Rhodes said, “I don’t know if words really cover the emotions in terms of the punt kick happening in the first place. This is, you know, file it away with the pallet driver in terms of a thing that we don’t do anymore, and there’s a reason why we don’t do it anymore. Obviously the emotions and the fact that it was Randy Orton, but I think we’d already crossed that bridge as to where Randy was and who Randy has become. What I would say is everything you needed to know about me, everything you needed to know about me happens after, I got up and I walked. I didn’t put on some silly manila neck brace, I didn’t have myself boarded away. I got up and I walked out and I tried to make eye contact with as many people as I could and let ’em know two things, still the champ, still here, and if that’s Randy Orton’s best shot, and Randy Orton was at his best ever, what does that say? And I’ll extrapolate further on the fact that I don’t mean this with arrogance. I’ll be forthcoming and say I’m pretty lucky and I don’t know how much more luck I have. You know, I don’t want to speak negatively or sound not confident going into a match with somebody like a Gunther. But I have been very lucky. And that’s a night where I was lucky to leave with the championship that means the most to our game, but also leave without a concussion, leave without orbital fracture at that. And I was able to show the people, like you said, it’s gonna heal. And when it does, where does that leave me?”
On spending time with his family after getting hurt and injured:
“I mean, you got to see Liberty at WrestleMania to be in the front row. Leilani, that’s her first go round with it all to, you mentioned a great support system that I don’t wanna undersell that because I’ve learned that you really are a product of who you put around yourselves. And I have set my life up to operate at a high level as a WWE athlete and a WWE Superstar, and those people make that. So, the family. You mention my family. Yes, I get to spend more time with them. And yes, I needed the time. There’s no healing like the healing that you get at home. But history repeats itself. And I recall my father talking about having to walk around the house with his face all busted up in cast whatever had been done to him at the time and see his children. Nothing can prepare you. No matter how you look at pro wrestling. Say you look at it as entertainment or you look at it as sport or somewhere in between, nothing can prepare you for a 4-year-old asking you, ‘What happened to your face?’ For a 4-year-old asking you, ‘Are you gonna be okay?’ Nothing did prepare me. And I again, just hope that’s a, I hope it’s not a regular conversation.”
On why it was important for him to return as quickly as possible after WrestleMania 42 and his addiction to the top spot:
“It felt very important coming just a “Monday Night RAW,” and having an interaction unexpected at that with the 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 ’cause that’s a hell of a model. 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. f 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 just, it’s not a matter of who’s right or wrong, it’s my preference. So, to be shaken out of my preference would’ve been very difficult. And Ricky Saints comes to WWE debuts coming up from NXT, as much as he did it in a braggadocios 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 [Zayn[ 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.”
You can check out Rhodes’ comments in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
