Top WWE star Cody Rhodes, known as “The American Nightmare,” appeared on the Bill Simmons podcast and discussed various topics, including wrestlers’ willingness to take hits.
Rhodes said, “Most wrestlers I know have a weird sense of, ‘Yeah [bring it on], yeah!’ It’s so toxic. For example, Cena turning on me; my hands aren’t up once on those belt shots. And by standards today it’s like, ‘Please, put your hands up, please!’ It’s just this weird, alpha toxic like, ‘Yeah!’”
On his Hell in a Cell match with Seth Rollins back in 2022:
“I think the idea — so many lies went into making it so I could get in that ring that night. Because I was refusing to do the old school, ‘Hey, let me be laying there backstage, and who did it?’ It was the first main event I’d had with WWE. And Peacock had a bunch of like, subs went up on it and they had told me that. And it was Hell in the Cell with Seth Rollins and this was spinning out of my coming back at WrestleMania. So yeah, I’m back and what I said all along is, ‘Hey, I can be in the main event. I can handle it and I can do well for you guys. And this is my first main event, and here I am — ‘Oh, I’m going to have to go away. I wanted to at least give them something to remember me by.”
On if it’s a “Son Of a Wrestler” mentality:
“Oh, 100%… but here’s the thing. It’s ‘son of a wrestler’ for sure. However, if my dad had been alive, he wouldn’t have let me wrestle. Because my dad didn’t look at me like a wrestler. He wanted me to be an actor, and looked at me like I was — he was very happy when I got into it. But my dad just babied — I’m the baby of my family. Severely babied me. And just took care of me in the greatest way. To me, greatest dad ever, but if all the old school wrestlers were like, ‘Yeah, that’s it right there. That’s old school.’ He would have been the one to be like, ‘This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. Why did you do that?’”
On lying to get to the match:
“I lied on the way. I kept it so — the information was true. WWE’s doctors looked at me and said, ‘He can’t hurt it any worse.’ And that was true, couldn’t hurt it any worse… I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m good, I’m good.’”
On when he felt like it was a mistake in the match:
“It’s probably two minutes in. Because I hadn’t done anything… [His pec] would cramp up into the collarbone spot. So anytime you did anything, it would cramp up into the collarbone spot… it was giant. It literally was sticking out this much. And when it happened, it hurt more than anything I can remember.”
On going through with it:
“I hate saying it, but I was really ashamed. I’d never been hurt. And then I finally got the spot and I got hurt. You know Nick, and Triple H and all these guys saying, ‘Hey, you’re right Cody. We’re gonna go all in on you now.’ So I felt like I’d blown it. So I wasn’t going to leave that night without at least leaving a very large mark on hopefully the fans.”
You can check out the complete podcast below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
