Cody Rhodes discusses his rule regarding mentioning Dusty Rhodes in promos, nepotism in professional wrestling, and realizing that he is getting everything he's ever wanted.
Cody Rhodes is on the Road to WrestleMania and is set to main event the "Showcase of the Immortals." At WrestleMania 39, he will become the first member of his family to compete in a one-on-one match for the WWE Championship on pay-per-view and the first member of his family to headline WrestleMania.
The first significant promo battle between Cody Rhodes and Paul Heyman heavily centered around Dusty Rhodes' and Paul Heyman's relationship with "The American Dream." For Cody Rhodes, this was acceptable because Paul Heyman has a close relationship with Dusty Rhodes. However, Cody Rhodes has an internal rule, which is not strictly adhered to or enforced, regarding who is and isn't allowed to mention his father on the microphone.
"One thing that's burnt into my brain is, I forget if it was Eddie Guerrero — I was watching WWE with my dad, and he told me, 'When people say, 'He would have loved this,' don't ever let anyone say that about me.' That's burned into my brain," said Cody during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. "There's a rule. It's my rule. It's not a big, serious rule. If you don't know Dusty, like if he didn't train you in NXT, if he didn't work with you, if you're going for some cheap heat. You can't use him. He's not coming out here making the bionic elbow. He's not with us, right? In the case of what I'm doing now, I'm playing on the other team, and it's like, my dad is the head coach of the other team. Bayley, Kevin [Owens], Sami [Zayn], Seth [Rollins], particularly Seth, Roman [Reigns], all these people he helped. He didn't train me. Paul's not lying.
"I know, there's kind of this fun [narrative of] 'Cody's always crying. He's always talking about his dad.' There's probably going to be a lot of that because I think about him so much heading into this situation solely because I think he was one of the few people who thought this could happen to me. He would lose it if he knew I was wrestling Roman, one of his guys; in Hollywood, a place where he wanted me to be in the first place," Cody added.
Cody also believes that, even if he ends up wrestling Sami Zayn, whom Roman Reigns must defend the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against at WWE Elimination Chamber on Saturday, February 18, Dusty Rhodes would still be in awe of the situation.
Continuing, Cody Rhodes would talk about the open secret among second-generation wrestlers who desire to outrank the most famous family member and forge a path of their own.
Also, Cody Rhodes praised the current state of multi-generational wrestlers on the WWE roster today.
"The big secret, which is not a secret, because I've said this in every interview, is when you're a second generation, third generation, whatever. You do want to be like them, sure, but you want to be better than them," said Cody. "When you say that, people are like, "How do you be better than Dusty? What a dick.' No, it's how you honor him.
"If you're a second or third-generation, nepo babies, or whatever we're called. The door is wide open. You can come in, you get the job, and then you're held to the most ridiculous standard," Cody continued. "Now we've got some major [second generation talent,] Dominik [Mysterio], Ava [Raine], Charlotte [Flair]; not knocking other fathers and mothers or anything like that, but we're dealing with some of the heaviest hitters. I consider Dusty that. Again, I think he would get such a big kick out of it."
Speaking about his verbal clash with Paul Heyman from the February 6 episode of WWE Raw, Cody Rhodes would actually commend Paul Heyman for saying exactly what he needed to hear at the right time.
"Mr. Heyman said the exact thing that — I don't think he knew I needed to hear this, but I heard it. He said it's not about him [Dusty Rhodes]. Bruce Prichard told me that, too. He said, 'Nobody loves your dad more than me, but this is about you. That Nightmare logo isn't polka dots. All these kids with these little foam white belts? That's not red, white, and blue Dusty Rhodes tour shirts. They're into you.' That's an interesting thing to hear, right? You want it. You want it. You want it. Then, you're like, 'Maybe I'm getting there. I just think that he would get a huge kick out of all his hand prints all over everything with WrestleMania. He's still giving to the business, even from the grave," Cody said
Paul Heyman stated recently that he believes Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes are trying to establish their legacies as the top family member.
Regarding whether or not Cody Rhodes has a preference for who he faces at WrestleMania 39, Cody Rhodes would say he has no preference in opponent or match type. Cody even welcomes a Triple Threat at WrestleMania because he wants to meet the best in the squared circle. Read more here.
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