Cody Rhodes praises John Cena as a role model and says he wants to lead by example.
Rhodes came up in the WWE system and had a successful run with the company; he won the Intercontinental Championship, and he held the tag team titles on several occasions. During his first run, he worked with John Cena, on several occasions, particularly when Cena feuded with Randy Orton while "The Viper" had Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. by his side. Rhodes left the company in 2016 and competed around the world before he helped launch All Elite Wrestling in 2019. He was arguably the face of the company, and he won the TNT Championship three times, before his departure in February 2022.
Rhodes then returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and feuded with Seth Rollins. Though Rhodes went down with a torn pectoral muscle in June, he came back at WWE Royal Rumble 2023 and won the men's battle royal to punch his ticket to WrestleMania 39.
Speaking with Robbie Fox on My Mom's Basement, Rhodes was asked whether he feels pressure to be a locker room leader, and Fox cited Cena as an example. Rhodes praised Cena and called him the ultimate role model. He also described how learning from Cena earlier in his career was invaluable, but he stated that his own style would be to lead my example.
"You mention John. John’s the ultimate role model as far as how he conducted himself, whether it was with the media, with the fans, the good fans, the more unruly fans, everything. He is the ultimate role model. Before he became a bus guy, I got to drive him around a little bit, and he was just talking. I was, in my mind, just writing everything down that he was saying. He was really invaluable as a person to be around. I’m so blown away by how he’s doing and what he’s doing. I think if you try to copy what he did… everyone’s gotta do it their own way. I think my style, I ever was to be somebody that was a locker room leader, would just be to lead by example," Rhodes said.
Referencing his time as an Executive Vice President in AEW, Rhodes stated that he realized that it's sometimes better to lead by example. He shared his belief that there's no perfect recipe for success because everyone is different, and the reaction of the crowd is the only way to know if something is truly working. Rhodes admitted that he has somewhat wound up in the locker room leader's spot, and he's doing it his way.
"I know because, as my time in management and being an executive, as beneficial as that was to me and as educational as it was to me, sometimes it’s easier to lead by example, really, versus telling them this is gonna work, or being so adamant that they need to do this and need to do this. Everybody is different. There is no true formula for success in sports entertainment and pro wrestling. It’s really you just know it when you hear it, when they’re reacting, boos and cheers included in that. I think for me, I’ll probably do it my way if I ever end in that spot and I kind of am. But yeah, I’d like to do it my way. I loved how he did it. Dude was his in his jean shorts and his shirt all show," he said.
Rhodes went on to describe how the best lesson he learned from Cena, which he tells his students at the Nightmare Factory, is that one should never cover their ears as a performer. He noted that Cena would always interact with the crowd and reward their participation somehow. Rhodes stated that he believed Cena took that approach because he was rising to prominence at a time when WWE had lost top stars like The Rock and Steve Austin, and he wanted to keep the business healthy.
"The best thing I get from him that I tell the kids at the factory all the time is, ‘Don’t cover your ears.’ Even if there’s a small little rumble, he would always do something to reward their participation as a crowd. He would really make them interactive without letting them know they were interacting. The roar would be a little louder each time. The Cena rule, as we call it at the Nightmare Factory, is if they’re doing something, you need to do something. Doesn’t mean you gotta take it home or rush it. But you need to reward their noise. I think that came from a sense in his time [that] he was coming on the heels of giants, Rock, Austin, and probably didn’t want to lose any bit of participation because we’re going out of these eras where everybody, Godfather walking through the curtain, no knock on the Godfather, but the place is coming unglued. Then they got less and less for just the industry as a whole. I think he made it clear that, whenever you get something, you reward. I think that’s a good strategy to have now because as healthy as the business is now, and it is as healthy as it’s ever been, you still want it to keep moving upwards," Rhodes said.
Paul Heyman recently discussed Rhodes' upcoming match with Roman Reigns, barring a title change, a WWE WrestleMania 39. Check out his comments here.
Rhodes looked back on his recovery and noted that he heard from both Triple H and Vince McMahon during his absence. Click here to see what he had to say.
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