Cody Rhodes Shocked By Who Leads NXT Locker Room
A discussion with a good friend led to Cody Rhodes being surprised at who is considered a leader on WWE’s NXT brand.
Cody Rhodes and Ricky Saints became good friends when they worked together in AEW. While in AEW and elsewhere before his WWE debut, Ricky was using his real name as a wrestler, Ricky Starks.
That friendship has continued now that Ricky is a WWE guy who has been one of the biggest stars on the NXT brand over the last year. Since Ricky is a NXT guy, he has yet to interact with Cody on Raw or SmackDown, but that day is likely coming at some point down the road.
The two friends had a friendly discussion on Cody’s “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast that takes place on the Cody Rhodes bus. During the discussion, Starks discussed being a pro wrestling veteran who has been in the business for over a decade. At the same time, the NXT brand is full of individuals who are starting as wrestlers, many of whom were discovered in the sports world or other places.
It led to Starks admitting he was surprised when people would ask him questions.
“It’s so fascinating to see people who aren’t from the realm of wrestling, from the indies, and seeing how they operate, and asking the questions. There’s people who come up to me now for questions, and I’m just like, ‘…me?’”
Cody Rhodes went on to tell a story about talking to the NXT roster during WrestleMania weekend in Las Vegas.
Cody: “One of the biggest shocks ever was when I asked… I wanted to… [Saints laughs] I wanted to send a nice message to the NXT roster.
Saints: “Be honest about this, be honest.”
Cody: “About Las Vegas. I wanted to send a nice message, the weekend… ‘We’re on the line here, guys. Don’t do anything stupid, don’t get in any trouble. If you party, please party after the show.'”
Saints: “Or away from The Strip.”
Cody: “I said, ‘You represent WWE…’ and I tried to say it as nice as possible.”
Response From NXT Talent Made Cody Rhodes Proud
As he continued, Cody Rhodes discovered from the NXT roster that his good friend Ricky Saints was considered a locker room leader. Cody went on to explain how that made him feel.
Cody: “When I asked, ‘Who are the locker-room leaders?’ The answer I got from more than one person, one of them was you [Saints], and I was…I wasn’t shocked in a funny way. I thought, ‘OK, yeah. That works, OK. I’ll tell him to not go to the…’ You know, but yeah, that was…”
Starks: “And someone also reinforced that.”
Cody: “I was proud. It was, it was double reinforced for me. I was very proud… Ethan Page, obviously, was on my list.
Starks: “But hey, I learned.”
After winning the King of the Ring tournament at WWE Night of Champions, Cody Rhodes will challenge John Cena for the WWE Title at SummerSlam in what will be a WrestleMania 41 rematch.