After a world title run, you can't really call someone else your leader.
— Cody Rhodes
I think I was always so resistant to coloring my hair because, you know, when my dad was still alive, it's so easy for a second- or third-generation wrestler to just copy their predecessor. The hardest thing you can do is try and carve out your own legacy.
To have a record crowd for What Culture, to be in there with Kurt Angle and not to be just, like, Kurt Angle plus garnish, for it instead to be Kurt Angle v. Cody Rhodes, our second match, actually - it was very vindicating. It's also nice, you know: the greatest revenge in all the world is success, so it's nice to be vindicated.
There is something to not always reminding people of a show they've already seen, but instead embracing the one right in front of him. I am Cody, and I can promise you that the future is going to be even better than the past.
Shane McMahon did his own mo-cap. Did you guys know that? He went and did his own mo-cap. He didn't want somebody doing his moves. Shane did his own mo-cap.
As the leader of the Bullet Club, I can't slow down now. I am an example for everybody who thought just slapping the Bullet Club logo on you would define your career.
I'm still the guy who shared the ring with The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Triple H when they were still actually active. And I'm aware, as my wife loves to hear. It's not different than any sport in the world where the best wrestlers are gonna get the best spots. That spot is for me, because I've earned it.
My dad was a three-time world heavyweight champion, so I want to be a three-time world heavyweight champion.
I just play it safe when it comes to television because it is WWE's intellectual property. But it is literally my legal name, like on my ID. My name hasn't been Cody Runnels since I was 17. But it's theirs. At no point would I ever want to go into a courtroom with a company I have love and admiration for.
When you get a record attendance for What Culture Pro Wrestling - or just recently with Matt Cross, we did a record attendance for Next Gen in Tennessee. These are various brands. They're not rinky-dink. They're small - they're not WWE - but their soul is there.
I had adapted to the blonde. So when they told me I'm going back to do these five episodes of 'Arrow', I was clearly really excited, but when they said I couldn't be blonde, it stung a little.
My mother stayed at home and raised me and my closest sister, and that meant that the American Dream and what he was doing on television as a character and behind the scenes as a producer was producing for us at home, so it is your life.
Whenever they bring out a new Zelda game, I'm there. I don't know if it's Link or if it's Zelda with the pointy little ears. I remember thinking as a kid that she was pretty hot.
I always looked at 'All In' with the perspective that it's about the present and future of the industry and not really about cheap pops, even though I'm sure they'll be plenty of those on the show.
I really got struck by lightning when it came to my decision to leave WWE. If I literally think about that day and who I was then, it's drastic. It almost happened overnight for me.
My dad had a habit of giving me the Abdullah the Butcher matches as well as the ones with tables and chairs - basically, the matches that went all over the building.
If you're a foolhardy, braggadocio male figure who wants to charge forward in every fight, it has its pros and its cons, that's for sure.
I'm not capable of being in a group where I'm not the leader. I did it once earlier in my career with Legacy, and that was cool because I was young and green and a rookie in the industry, but now no more.
The Rhodes in WWE have a wonderful history. I'm glad they let me go. They are the house that built me, and you never know - I might be there again one day.
The feeling, the sensation behind it is, it's exciting to cherry pick and select and be your own boss and to be in control of your own brand; however, it's a lot of work.
I try to live under a rock when it comes to WWE, but you can't avoid seeing your Twitter feed, people talking about Jinder Mahal wrestling Randy Orton at a pay-per-view.
I live for this. I continue to study. To bump and learn.
I am the best in the world. It's 1: Cody; 2: Kenny; 3: Okada; 4: Charlotte; 5: Cena, with Ospreay creeping up on the list. It's my responsibility with the event to live up to that ranking. I am unbelievably good at this because of hard work and dedication.
Every time someone told me I couldn't, I did. I'm still the same guy who's responsible for one of the better Intercontinental runs of all time and changing that title.
I just had the absolute best luck in the world in terms of meeting The Young Bucks, and they might look like wild little rock stars who are irresponsible, but they are business geniuses. They set up the deal with Hot Topic, and they're going to be the first 7-figure downside characters that New Japan Pro Wrestling has.
I loved the idea that I had an alter-ego but that my true identity was very well known and very much on the surface. I was the only one who didn't know who Stardust really was. So it was very much tied to comics - everything I've done. I did a whole run where I'd wear a face mask when I was on SmackDown, and that was based on Dr. Doom.
I had one of the best matches of my career with Matt Cross, and I'd never met him before, until that day. Wrestling will always be in my heart.
As far as Dustin or Dusty, neither of them contributed to me wanting to be in the industry as far as encouragement. They didn't discourage it, but I think they both were indifferent as far as it had to be my decision.
Pro wrestling is what provided for my family.
All you need to do is look down at my boots. My pro wrestling boots that I've worn for the past year have the Triforce symbol from 'Legend of Zelda' on them.
We've been very lucky with the 'Being the Elite' crew that everyone is very passionate about pro wrestling. There's no crooks in the group. Everyone's ideas are valued. And everyone who has something they pick and put on the map, they are fully going to commit to that.
Everytime there's an NXT show, people are like, 'Oh, that's the greatest thing I've ever seen.' It's the greatest show on Earth. One of things that they have going for them is the fact they make you wait. They build to it properly. That's a good way to go at this.
I always tried to stand out as a ref. I wore a long-sleeve black Under Armour t-shirt so that you knew I was the cool ref as opposed to the old dude.
If you ask me what I like about Green Arrow, I can tell you that I read 'Longbow Hunters' years ago and that it's my favorite Green Arrow.
I work full-time, whether it's on 'All In,' my own show, whether it's Ring of Honor, whether it's New Japan - I make every show.
I worked for a big corporation for a decade for the majority of my youth. Now I really like the opportunity to essentially play my music on as many brands and stuff as I can, and Ring of Honor and Impact have been exceptional. They have been exceptional about that; there has been no pushback. It's all lined up exactly how we hoped.
Nobody is keeping me from using my last name.
Whoever did my mo-cap for Stardust watched my very first entrance and nothing else, because I never did half the stuff ever again, and it's funny to watch. Well, hey, that's what they used, so yeah.
The Bullet Club keeps New Japan Pro Wrestling in the black. Far in the black. Because of me. I'm a part-timer in that company, and I hold the Tokyo Dome merchandising record and Osaka's. Funkos. Bucks on a career run. This Bullet Club may never be topped.
The fans never gave up on CM Punk. If CM Punk wants to be part of 'All In,' he can be part of 'All In.' But I am not putting it on him to draw those 10,000 seats. If we did have CM Punk, we would not tell you we had CM Punk - unless we didn't sell any tickets.
Sometimes I just revert back to Dusty's kid. I'm trying to chase his ghost, and it's a pretty hard ghost to chase.
I was really confident when I left WWE. I was confident that I would have a good time, and I was confident that I could wrestle differently than perhaps people saw me in the last few years with WWE, but I definitely wasn't prepared for this level of everything.
I think it's really exciting for me to see Brandi branch out. Because when you look her up and see her pictures online and see that she was this bikini model, it doesn't tell you that she's got a degree from the University of Michigan or that she attended the master's program and the University of Miami.
I think the yearning for a different product is really strong. WWE hasn't had any significant change since, what, 2001 in wrestling? WWE provides so much good content. Just good, wholesome content, but they're still the only one.
At 15, I refereed my first match, and I was training at my dad's school even prior to that, so the only thing that I was concerned about - I guess the only thing that made me reluctant and was the reason I was in L.A. and the reason I went to acting school - was I thought maybe I wasn't big enough - physically big enough - to compete with WWE.
One thing I learned from my old man is that people are going to be happy for you, but not too happy. When the tables are turned and you're hanging out on top with a guy like Randy Orton, who is in the main event at Wrestlemania, not all the guys are going to like you.
Some kids like books, some kids like movies, but for me, every year I still go back and play 'Legend of Zelda.' So to me, when I got up to the big time, I thought that Zelda was my thing. CM Punk has a Pepsi tattoo, so why can't I have the Triforce? Gaming is huge to me; it's all I do.
You go real long in this business, and then you have these light-bulb moments. I just had this fleeting moment of fearlessness and a moment of trust in myself that I'm not going to listen to anyone. I'm going to do it how I want to do it. And how I want to do is what people are going to want to see and promoters want to pay for.
I don't have the same knack for the business end that my old man did. Recruiting people has been tough. I don't envy anyone in that spot, especially some of the great non-WWE promoters like 'Evolves' Gabe Sapolsky, Beyond Wrestling's Drew Cordeiro, or Markus Mac at All Pro Wrestling.
Luke Gallows is now entirely focused with WWE, but he built WrestleMerica, which was very much a Southern-based independent.
