Cody Rhodes explains his rule about taking the moves of those he's wrestled in the past.
Cody Rhodes has wrestled a who's who of the modern wrestling industry. John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, Kenny Omega, Booker T, Will Ospreay, Jay Lethal, and Jay Briscoe, to name a few. There are shades of each of these individuals' move-sets in the current arsenal of "The American Nightmare."
Recently, Cody was asked by Sean Ross Sapp about the homages he pays to wrestlers that have influenced his career. Cody says he has a rule that he can use their moves if he wrestles someone more than five times. Thus far, no one has outright objected to this, even though they don't necessarily like it.
“Booker T, in the corner. Jerry Lynn also does it. I’ll do the spin over into a sunset flip," Cody explains. "My rule is, if I wrestle you more than five times, I can do all your stuff. It’s only my rule, and people hate it. I love the Cody Cutter. I think it’s better than an Os-Cutter, but I did get it from Will, so fair play to Will, who’s super talented. Beyond super talented.
"If I’ve wrestled you more than five times, I told Jay Lethal this once, and he hated it," Cody continues. "He’s like, ‘No, wait, no, no, that’s not how it works.’ I can do your stuff. It’s just my rule, and I’m waiting for someone to be like, ‘Hey, please don’t.’ But hey, I like to sponge. Part of what we do is, I got to lean into being a Rhodes, so I can do these Rhodes things. I got to lean into being part of the indie revival. I got all that, and I’m lucky to have been part of it. So I sponge off as much as I can. The Booker roll, which Jerry does as well, there’s a couple of Arn Anderson things that I do that are hard to visualize. It’s all someone else’s. I just try to put into a Nightmare package."
Cody Rhodes has also paid homage to Triple H, utilizing the Pedigree. However, Cody has openly taken shots at Triple H, smashing a throne at the first-ever AEW event, Double or Nothing 2019.
Cody also addressed the throne smashing in this interview with Sean Ross Sapp. Learn more here.
