New Ring Of Honor Champion Cody Rhodes recently spoke with Ring Rust Radio; you can read a few highlights or listen to the complete interview below.
(*The interview was conducted before Cody defeated Christopher Daniels for the ROH title on Friday night.)
Cody Rhodes on if he believes he can succeed where Kenny Omega failed and actually dethrone Okada:
I don’t think Kenny failed in that second outing. If you asked me point blank did he win the title, the answer is no. To go 60 minutes and the champion’s advantage being what it is, they went the distance and Okada remains champion. I just think his luck has kind of run dry. Gosh he’s big match Okada for sure, an absolute stud and he is guaranteed his legacy in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but man that’s the thing about pro wrestling, any given night, you know? The added incentive is you have a lot of people excited about what I am doing with Christopher Daniels. People are like, ‘Whoa, finally Cody is wrestling singles for the big one.’ Then you have a lot of people who are absolutely furious about Long Beach and as much as I like pleasing the fans I have acquired, nothing would make me happier than upsetting the critics I have acquired. It’s two glorious matches, eight days of summer that I get to watch wrestling twitter just sh-t itself and shut down and essentially have a heart attack. The amount of speculation like how I’m not in the G1 and just the amount of speculation going on, when you start a sentence with that, that pretty much guarantees you are trying to convince yourself and I love it. I love the type of crowd we are walking into at Long Beach and both title matches have such a great and unique lineage behind them about them.
Cody on coming up with the idea for his “American Nightmare” moniker and the response from fans:
I can’t tell you who came up with it; it’s a secret that I will have to take to the grave. Although it really is kind of, I don’t know if it’s a term people use anymore, but an oxymoron. My pops is the American Dream and I have been a career villain, so it makes sense. It is absolutely flattering beyond belief the international reception for the idea of the American Nightmare. The shirt that broke the Tokyo Dome merchandise sales records has two AK-47s on it and the red white and blue of the American flag and it happened in Tokyo, Japan. Just walking into that hotel right after it and seeing all these fans run up to me in that shirt, I almost broke down. I almost shed a tear. When I was in WWE all I wanted was to drive Cena around before he got the bus. I drove him around for a full year and learned from him. He was cool and nice to me and taught me as much stuff as he could. We always had these conversations about merchandise and he really is just above me. College-level discussions about the algorithm behind box office and sales and I wanted that. So, for the first time in my career I’ve been able to look at myself. I was just a wrestler and all of a sudden things took off and I became a brand. I don’t know what that means, but I know it’s real because I have a team full of people who surround this: a social media team, a management team and a publicist. All this crazy stuff I never knew a wrestler would ever need. I’m just real lucky that I caught on in the international markets. I hope when they get the opportunity to see me as I am not in Japan as frequent as I would like to be, that they understand and they get their money’s worth.
Cody comments on his future in acting after guest appearances on Arrow, if he would attempt a full time acting career in favor of wrestling:
I got offered a full-time role in the CBS show, I won’t say which one, but it goes to the CBS streaming All-Access stream and I turned it down because of that very issue. If I’m unable to be a pro wrestler, than I’m not anything. That’s what great about Arrow, they get it. They get that pro wrestling is a huge thing to me. That’s why if I had the time off I would do it, but right I’m not taking any time off. I just looked at my datebook and it goes all the way up to May of next year and so much international work. The good thing for roles in the acting world that I will pursue is that most of them are during the week. So hopefully there’s more part-time work for me and hopefully get to work with the Arrow crew. I really would love to continue working with them. They didn’t kill Derek Sampson; they can’t kill Derek Sampson so I would love to continue in that world. That Arrow team is so awesome and they took such great care of me. They gave me a chance to try things and create Derek Sampson and I would love to return as Derek Sampson.
Cody’s thoughts on Bullet Club continuing to evolve and feature new variations each year compared to outright disbanding:
That is a really good question. I think there will be a time probably, with all good things must come to an end and I think there will be a time when okay, this is no longer hot. That’s what blows my mind about the Bullet Club is when you kind of look at its history. I know someone for example, who didn’t know the NWO and DX parallels. We were watching some old wrestling and they saw somebody too sweet and they were blown away, I said ‘yea, it’s a whole thing.’ I think the fact that they have lasted so long, they created the Bullet Club and it’s this skull and crossbones type fraternity and it’s a really special unit to be part of and be proud of. I think wrestling fans will know when enough’s enough, but when they are making additions like Marty Scurll, who has a completely different demographic and a completely different style, they’re doing all the right things. Everybody plays their part and there is not a lazy guy in the Club. It’s nuts. Just looking around the locker room and looking at people and the idea that I’m going to have a better match than you and the Bucks are going to steal the show, but then you better steal it back and who’s going to sell the most? That’s a really fun group to be part of and it’s motivating.
