Cody Rhodes “Wasn’t Interested” In Discussing His Father With Roman Reigns
Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns recently tore the house down just by standing in the same ring together on SmackDown ahead of their WrestleMania 39 clash, but the main subject that came up wasn’t necessarily one Rhodes wanted to discuss.
On SmackDown in Washington D.C., Cody Rhodes confronted Reigns ahead of their monumental match and things quickly got personal.
As Roman Reigns dismissed the rest of The Bloodline so the two men could be alone, he laid down his title belts between them while Rhodes began by saying that for many Reigns is an impossible mountain to climb but that he had made a career of doing just that. Rhodes noted he was never meant to be more than Randy Orton’s understudy or to survive Stardust before referencing the industry-changing All In event and noted that nobody believed he and his indy buddies could sell out a 10,000-seat arena.
Roman Reigns then issued his response where he quickly began talking about the late Dusty Rhodes but stated that he had too much respect for The American Dream to speak ill of him. He did make sure to note that when he spoke to Dusty, he says Dusty never mentioned Cody and that if there was anything The Dream didn’t teach Cody, then Reigns would teach him at WrestleMania.
Speaking to Kevin Kellam of WrestleBinge, Cody Rhodes explained that despite the conversation turning to his father, that wasn’t necessarily a direction he wanted to go in:
“Can’t avoid it. Those nights when I make it clear that I’m not going to talk about Dusty at all is the night that the other guy talks about Dusty. Just recently, with Roman, I wasn’t really interested in the idea of ‘we’re going to converse on my father,’ but he has a very unique relationship and had a very unique relationship with my father, so he’s the one that took it up there.
“I’m always hip and keen to the amount of emotion that happens with me on television. Everything everyone has been watching since I came back at the Royal Rumble is real. In an industry where there is a suspension of disbelief and areas of gray, this is the most real anything has ever been, trying to win a title that my family never got. The last opportunity we got for it was in the late 70s.
“It’s as real as it gets. Coming back from a very real injury, trying to make it to the Royal Rumble, surviving Gunther until I was able to eliminate him, very real. I like that. I prefer that. I have the responsibility, but also to a degree, the burden of the character that I play is myself. That’s what makes ‘finish the story’ sound even better. It’s a real story.”
Cody Rhodes was endorsed by John Cena on Monday Night Raw in Boston and shared the special message Cena had for him when the two men embraced on the stage.