Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
Dusty Rhodes' name being used in the build to Cody's match:
"No, I don't necessarily feel that uncomfortable in terms of, especially when someone who knows him talks about him, because they're talking about him from a different perspective. Mr. Heyman has a different outlook on Dusty than I have as his son. I think Stephanie McMahon hit me with this line last year, and I never forgot it. I was asking her about things to say in my interview, or she didn't mention my interview and we were talking about it. And I remember her just saying, use everything. Use everything you have, because that's what it takes in terms of a Wrestlemania main event. Every bit of your, like, when you talked to me last year and I was completely a zombie, that's beccause I was. It includes the pain of the loss of Dusty, but then also his story. This is a hundred percent a real thing. He wrestles Superstar Billy Graham. He wins the title by, by countout and then obviously you can't win the title that way, but he's holding the belt and all that. They took it away from him. Understandable. I get that. The champion keeps the title. As his son I wanted to have that for him. I also wanted to have it for me because again, we're talking about stats and things like that. This is the same guy who I played basketball with every day, a game of horse and would, I'd never won. So you want those things. That, hey, I got something that he didn't, you know. I'm, there's that meme for a long time. What do you know about Cody Rhodes? I'm Dusty Rhodes' son. Can't be the only thing. It can't be...and things like the Royal Rumble. Things like WrestleMania. Just the whole American Nightmare. The whole thing. All these young fans. The whole...I'm incredibly lucky to be in this spot and be able to have as many chances as I've had because I started as such garbage. And again, I started way too early. I'm in this tag team with Shawn Spears. They should have got Spears, and instead they pulled me up because of my speech at the Hall of Fame. I just wasn't ready. So for fans to forgive that lack of readiness, over and over and over again, for me to finally start to click that's again, the WrestleMania is entirely for them."
Whether Dusty ever expressed regret over not becoming WWF Champion:
"So what I remember, straight honesty here, I never remember him telling me he was bothered. I just remember how much he talked about those three matches. And those were only three matches. He wrestled the Nature Boy Ric Flair a thousand times. He wrestled Harley Race probably five hundred times. But those three matches with Superstar, The Garden. I think the one thing that he felt maybe was above, I don't know. His out of his orbit was at the time the WWWF and then the WWF because when I would later talk about Ultimate Warrior or Hulk Hogan. He'd always have to slide in there and remind me like, 'Hey Hulk Hogan was a huge fan of mine He came to the sportatorium and he I mean he came to the Fort Hester Lee Armory and all these places and he's a big fan of mine.' He always had to let me know and I believed him. I believed him, but I just I feel like his whole journey when he he decided not to stay in the Superstar and the Vince kind of situation they had going on there and he moved on to [Jim] Crockett [Promotions] and to become the executive producer and the booker and matchmaker and all that. This big disruptor in the industry and then to fight the battles of WCW and WWF, ultimately WWE and WCW. I just. I feel like we're sorry, I'm just all over the matter, but I feel like we're the kind of this outcast family in the wrestling industry. One of the things about my song, it says wrestling has more than one royal family. For that to really be true, I have to be Roman Reigns. For that to really be true, because that's the greatest family, you saw that. Yeah. You saw that chart. All of us saw it. It's intimidating enough. Five of the names, not to mention the other 50 on there. But for that to be true, I have to be Roman."
WWE Press Conferences:
"You just have to, you have to be truthful in those moments. You really do, and I think everybody that night, it was actually attempting to be truthful in their own way, but sometimes you have to call it what it is and not shy away from it. But I'm glad that I was able to answer that and those press conferences, I'm not sure if you've realized this, those are some of my favorite things ever. Like a top 10 career moment is me and Jey was at that presser after Fast Lane...just an absolute top 10 career moment for me because it was so ridiculous and stupid. And I had been so long, just almost political, almost robotic and I still had a little bit of that in me and then for that him to bring me out of my shell and loosen me up It was a really fun moment. So I enjoy those press conferences."
Vince McMahon's departure from WWE after the allegations and lawsuit:
"I like to think of...today, whenever there's a an accusation or anything of that nature, it's very important that you don't shame the accuser. You don't shame because people were quick to do that sometimes. But I also am not legal personnel. I'm not in law enforcement of any kind. I like to just see it. How it play out from a legal court situation. Did someone break the law? Is there guilt? Is there punishment? Is it not all that to say that? That's why I really don't, I don't want to be naive to it, but I put my focus solely on how do we make the show. The best show possible, the excitement over Netflix, the excitement over Wrestlemania 40, the Rock returning. So I don't have a lot of time to focus on that, but I am looking at it like everybody else in a sense of hopefully there's a resolution that, that that justice is brought for whomever, if that makes any sense."
Whether Vince is completely gone from any sort of WWE influence:
"I would say it's Nick and Hunter. He's a text away, things of that nature, and that raised some eyebrows. I'm not disputing anything she said or anything of that nature, but in my experience, I've dealt with just Nick and Hunter for a really long time and the company is clearly changing. Directionalist, him not being present. You're seeing the production change and things, just differences in the programming, but Nick and Hunter have been my guys. How are things with I'm shocked to say that they're, I guess I'm not shocked to say, but I never anticipated when we did breaking of the throne. I think I said pissant bodybuilder at one point in one of my independent, it may have been an AEW rant, something. All of it rattling the cages, all of it in the spirit of trash talk and sports entertainment. But, we take this stuff personally. It gets under our skin. He really had no reason to take care of me and he has just been an incredible guide. An incredible mentor. Often, I'll be standing in gorilla when something else is on the show, and I'll just look at him and there's an understanding. There's a knowledge of, 'Oh, that was great. Or that wasn't, or what can we do here?' If I do continue a career in sports, entertainment and pro wrestling...yeah, I've not shared this with anybody. I'm not even shared that with him, but I really would, if I was to continue and it was in a backstage environment, I'd like to Perhaps follow in those footsteps. I have a great amount of experience, good and bad. And I can I could put it to use. We're not there yet."
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
