Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Speaker 2 (01:07):
So, after some encouragement to quit and go work fast food,
we decided to actually flip the script and go against
the Grain, adding to the wrestle Chat podcast lineup here
on wrestle Chat TV. I'd like to welcome you, so
let me talk to you. My name is the ant Man,
and today we're talking Cody Rhodes. It's been quite the
journey from Stardust to superstar, and it's been well documented
(01:28):
Peacock's American Nightmare Becoming Cody Rhodes documentary. If you haven't
watched that yet, put it on your list. It is
absolutely great. Cody, the son of a son of a plumber,
the youngest child of the American Dream Dusty Rhodes came
back to WWE at WrestleMania thirty eight as a surprise
opponent of Seth Freakin Rollins. His return started fast only
(01:49):
built up steam through twenty twenty two, but that journey
came to a near full stop after our bench press
snapped his pectorial tendon that put Cody on the shelf
for several several I want to bring in my partner here,
Michael Glavin. Welcome, my man. I know you're a huge
Cody fan as I am. What was your first thought
when Cody removed his ring jacket after stepping into Hell
(02:10):
and the cell with Seth and we saw what happened
to his chest.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Well, I mean, I think the very first thing that
came to mind was wholly expletive. You know. We you know,
over the last decade or two, we've seen WWE become
very focused on, you know, the health of the performers
and really moving away from the old school days where
(02:34):
if you're hurt, you just work and that's just how
it is. And so really it created this identity crisis
as a fan to say, Okay, obviously WWE knows he's injured,
how did he get past medical? How did he and
it raises all of these questions, and so here you
are in this moment. We hadn't seen him, at least
(02:55):
from what I remember, we hadn't seen anything prior to
the match, and so he takes that jacket off and
your hands kind of go on your head and you're like, man,
I don't what does all this mean? And obviously you
would go on to be an absolute banger of a
match and really kind of shredded the curtain between k
(03:16):
FAB in reality.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
After that match, we saw Cody go away for a
little bit, but Cody returned at the twenty twenty three
Royal Rumble as entrant number thirty, battling in the end
with the IC champ Guther after tossing gunthrow of the
top rope, it was evident that Cody was back, and
he was better than ever and he would be resuming
his ambition to become the undisputed WWE Universal Champion. But
(03:38):
that battle against Roman raised at Wrestle Winnie in thirty
nine saw the American Nightmare come up short in his
efforts there. Michael, It's been debated just mere seconds after
that loss, that Cody's story was over, while others believed
it was, it was just the beginning. Immediately after that match,
What camp did you find yourself in? Uh?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
I would say I was definitely in camp We're still going.
The story is not over. But I think it raised
a lot of questions because, to WWE's credit, and this
may be an unpopular opinion, we're so used to getting
that WrestleMania payoff, We're so used to getting that win,
you know, from the winner of the Royal Rumble, and
(04:21):
and so I think what it did is that it
broke the norm of what we were comfortable with. And
I think as much as we had heard about it.
I think that was, you know, Paul le Vex's way
of saying no. I said long term storytelling, and I
meant it. And I think that was the first inkling
(04:42):
of that because there was just so many things that
the timing needed to be right on. It wasn't time
for Rains to drop it yet. You know, Cody had
been around so briefly that we would have, you know,
eliminated so much story in between. I mean, imagine if
we would have gone from the first Iron Man movie
(05:02):
straight to Avengers Endgame. Yeah, you would enjoy it, but
there's so much that you're missing out on in between
that would make the story and the build up and
what we assume is an inevitable payoff much less fun
and enjoyable.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Agreed, and that story did continue. Cody's most recent hurdle
started on the raw after WrestleMania, when we saw the
Beast incarnate brock Lester turn from being Cody's partner in
a tag match to f fiv ing him right in
the middle of the ring. That turn would lead to
three three very brutal matches for Cody, one that saw
Cody get he kind of got one over on Brock
(05:42):
after Brock had Cody and Kimora. Then the second Cody
passing out from that same arm lock in match number two,
so the story was tied up one apiece. Then came
the rubber match at this year's SummerSlam in Detroit, which
you and I were at. Cody had to face his
own hard times in the form of a beast and
take on Brock one more time. Michael, I said to
(06:04):
you during that show, this is very reminiscent of Brock
versus Sina. I mean, Brock was clearly he clearly had
the advantage over Cody in this match. The beating was brutal.
What was going through your mind during that match while
we're watching Cody just get completely destroyed.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Yeah, there was a couple different things going through my head.
I was surprised at the booking of the match, mainly
just because it was a match that didn't really make
Cody look strong, but it made him look resilient, right,
And maybe that was the point. Maybe that was the point.
I expected a little more back and forth. In fact,
if you go back a few episodes on the wrestle
(06:44):
Chat podcast, you'll hear me explain that that. You know,
I think embarrassing brock Lesner is to manhandle brock Lesner.
And boy, that did not happen, not even a little bit,
and not even a little bit. And so I thought
the match was incredibly interesting. And where my brain is
at right now is like, where is this going? Because
(07:04):
if we know we're in this long term storytelling phase
of wrestling, you know, we're finishing up what appears to
be finishing up with brock Lesner. Yeah, and so what
does all this mean and how does the booking now
translate into what's getting ready to come? But I would
say overall my feeling was a little confused, but still
in awe of two great performers.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, after all was said and done in Detroit, Cody
landed the crossroads in Brock to bring home the victory.
As exciting as that was, that really wasn't where what
everyone was talking about after that match was it. It
had to do with Brock and Cody's moment in the ring.
Now that we're a few days removed from this quote
unquote passing of the torch, it seems even more significant
(07:47):
than when it happened. In the moment, There's never been
another match where Brock has taken it upon himself to
congratulate his competitor, shaking his hand and raising his arm
right there in the middle of the ring. What did
that mean to you when you saw it happen there
in Detroit?
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Well, not to sound like an echo chamber, but if
you recall, I think my first response was holy expletive. Uh,
you know, I leaned over. I leaned over to you,
and I said, we have never seen that before ever,
And and I think you and I were both in
quite shock and awe. And I do think it is
(08:24):
a passing of the torch. Maybe not necessarily to say
that that brock lesnar is done by any stretch of
the imagination, but I think it's a passing of the
torch to say, I'm handing off my main event status
and I'm I'm, you know, anointing someone to hold this
spot now that I have guarded so carefully for a
(08:47):
long time. You know, Brock has a reputation of being
a guy rough around the edges and not very sociable
in this that or whatever. But if you talk to
if you hear anyone talk about him professionally, he cares
about the business. He cares about making good decisions for booking.
He cares about putting on, you know, a good performance,
and I think that was a way of him saying,
(09:11):
you went out, you know, you did your own thing,
you were super successful on the independent circuit, you started
this other promotion, and now you're back and you're just
killing it. And I feel comfortable handing over this slot
to you because I know you will honor it and
take care of it.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
And nobody would ask and so to do that either,
that was all on Brocket.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
So yeah, you probably would have been punched in the
face if you had asked him to do it, But
he did it on his own accord, and yeah, just
at pretty magical moment.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Now, the big question is what's next for Cody. I mean,
we have until April of twenty twenty four to see
Cody take on Roman Reigns again. If indeed that is
the plan, that's nine months away. There's got to be
more bumps in the road for the American Nightmare. Here's
some possibilities I wouldn't be mad at seeing. First, is
Cody versus Edge. Edge is already a Hall of Famer
and he's already publicly stated he's winding things down could
(10:06):
Edge be a viable hurdle for Cody to overcome? And
if so, what's the story for you with Cody versus Edge.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
I think there's just some things, and I've referenced it
on the show before. There's just some things that don't
need the story because the people are the stories themselves.
I harken back to I think it was WrestleMania twenty seven,
twenty eight, maybe with Triple H and the Undertaker. You know,
Undertaker was cutting a promo Triple H's music. It he
(10:34):
comes out to the ring, no words are exchange. They
just both look into the rafters at the WrestleMania sign.
And I think when you have two people at the
caliber of Cody and Edge, I think it can be
very similar. It's as simple as hey, we're two of
the best. I'm winding down, you're winding up. Let's see
who's still got it and who doesn't. And I think
(10:54):
there's a very very powerful story there.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
If he told me, yeah, I agree. Another one could
be Cody versus Randy, or there's a built in story
already here with these two all members of Legacy back
in the day. I'm honestly not sure how I'd feel
about the story being finished without Cody actually having to
face Randy Orton, but with Randy's recovery, I'm not too
certain if this could happen before next April, but how
(11:17):
you know, all things considered, just they could step back
into the ring together. How are you feeling about this idea?
Speaker 3 (11:23):
I think that's probably my favorite up to right now,
not that I wouldn't want to see anything else, but
as you pointed out, there's so much packed in there.
It's it's kind of reminiscent of Star Wars, if you will,
it's the you know, one side was the learner, now
I have become the masta, you know, you know whatever
that is. And I think there's story there of a
(11:45):
mentor and a mentee going at it and seeing who
comes out on top. So, you know, I have a
feeling that if we see Randy again, it'll be like
he never missed a step, and I think that could
be one of the I think that that could potentially
be Match of the Year whenever that falls.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Well, those are just a couple of options that we've
talked about. Michael, anyone else that you're feeling that could
be a good contender for Cody before WrestleMania forty.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
You know. To be honest, I'm I'm in such awe
of Cody Rhodes right now. Yea, with all the pieces
coming together between the documentary, I don't know that anything
is going to be bad. Obviously the ones we've already
mentioned are my favorites. But but honestly, I wouldn't mind
seeing him work with someone that needs some help getting over,
you know, in the WWE. I don't want to see
(12:35):
anybody squashed, you know, by Cody. But one person that
comes to mind is to Masso Champa, someone who is
greatly underutilized in the WWE, who who has been a
force to be reckoned with everywhere else that he's been.
And even knowing that Cody will probably need to go
over for story purposes, there's a lot to utilize there
(12:59):
in someone like tomorrow Champa, And so that would be
just out of left field submission there. But way, like
I said, I don't think we're going to be not Yeah,
but I don't think we're going to be disappointed in
anything we get between now and when we see the
wrestleman in the season start to shave.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
But listen, we'd love for you to chime in with
your ideas too. Just like our weekend podcast, you're always
invited to join the conversation, so let's chat. Drop a
comment here on this episode, or join our discord and
link to that and all of our socials as well.
All in the description of this episode. If you enjoyed
the first episode of let Me Talk to You, be
sure to hit that thumbs up and subscribe here on
(13:35):
wrestle chat TV. It means a lot to us and
a lot to this channel too. Michael, great talking Cody
Rhodes with you here today.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I appreciate it. We look forward to seeing you again
on the next episode of let Me Talk to You
here on wrestle Chat TV.