Cody Rhodes on There Has Been “Semi-Serious Talks” About Brandi Rhodes Being Brought Back To WWE, Him Taking A Break From WWE Has Been “Advised Across The Board”, Him Enjoying House Shows As Much As A WrestleMania Main Event, His Story with The Rock Being Unfinished, & More

A recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show featured Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Rhodes’ thoughts about the possibility of his wife Brandi being brought back to WWE and getting involved with him on WWE television in the future.

“I think people talk about it — I’d say semi-serious talks about her being brought back for things here and there. I mean, we saw Mama Rhodes get included in things from time to time. When you bring real elements of your life and my character’s rooted in a real person, then that always makes for great television and sometimes it can get a little too real. I think Brandi (Rhodes) grew up very fast because of the nature of her experience in the wrestling business, and I always try to make those moments for her when she does come back, a reminder of how great the wrestling fans can be, because it’s easy to forget how wonderful they can be and really, the last time we saw her was WrestleMania 40. Just to be able to walk out there with me and own it before the company goes into the stratosphere… I certainly wouldn’t be opposed if she ever wanted to do something on her own or break into it…”

Rhodes also gave his thoughts about the idea of him taking a break from WWE at some point has been advised across the board to him and his mindset regarding discussions like that.

“I actually didn’t know A.J. said that. I think it’s okay to say now. When I wrestled A.J. — after WrestleMania 40, I had jumped into a program with A.J. Styles. We wrestled at Backlash in front of wrestling’s greatest crowd, and then we had another one in Scotland. A.J. Styles was incredibly generous, and he wasn’t even on the way out. Incredibly generous on his, kind of, final tours that he was doing with me and what I needed to be doing. Should I be at the monitor? Should I be giving a speech at the end of the shows? All of the things that no one could teach me other than someone who had been there before, and that was A.J. so A.J. very much fills a big brother role. I think it’s safe to say from the outside, ‘Cody should take a break.’ It’s been advised across the board but also, let me put it to you this way, there are guys who do take breaks, and I’m not mad at anyone who takes breaks, and they get to go and get in incredible shape or go do a project, or get healthy. Whatever the heck it is that they’re doing, they get to do that and they’re fresh and they get that big reaction on the first night. But then it settles back into what it was. If others are doing that — and I heard this from Bobby Roode. I hope he doesn’t mind his name being mentioned here — well, then it’s my job to be the guy who’s always here. Then it’s my job to be the one who doesn’t leave you, and if that means that things can get a bit stale on occasion or maybe a better way to put it — not stale — if that means things can get a bit expected, then that’s still a safe place to be and I liked his outlook on it and that’s really been my outlook… I need to be the one who’s here all the time, until someone else steps into those boots.”

Rhodes also gave his thoughts about how he enjoys working house show events as much as he does a WrestleMania main event.

“These are the best, as far as a wrestler, in my wrestling heart. I enjoy these, almost as much as a WrestleMania main event because this is your time to connect with an audience, to look up at them, look in their eyes, see them, spend time with them after. Bend the rules a little bit because you’re not on TV.”

Rhodes also gave his thoughts about his storyline feud with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and if he must finish his story with Johnson.

“Deep breath. Dwayne Johnson… I think it’s safe to say he’s a bit of a fixture in my career and my life. Not just for his flag in the sand moment that was WrestleMania and then the emergence of probably one of the better characters that we’ve only seen a little bit of it being ‘The Final Boss.’ I don’t wanna give it an absolute and say that we do have to settle that. I think it’s an unfinished story. There’s probably two unfinished stories that are out there and they don’t always get finished. There’s a lot of fantasy-booking, there’s a lot of ways but there’s a lot that goes into it. There’s a version of this where finishing that story is me trying to be as successful as I possibly can be. Follow a bit of, if not a lot of his lead. Break into TV and Hollywood and do something only he thought he could do and do that to honor him. Then there’s a version of it that’s probably more appealing to a wrestling fan where The Final Boss shows back up and there is more on the rose than a non-ending so, I can’t answer that one… I can say as a wrestler, we get a little trepidatious or we don’t get super excited when people tease, ‘Oh, he might be there,’ leak it or drop something that’s misleading solely because we’re the ones here on the ground who are trying to pull this wagon and you know me, I love nostalgia for nostalgia but it’s gotta be current, it’s gotta be active and right now, we need active. Trick Williams is a prime example. We need that to move and grow and it’s doing that right now…”

Rhodes also gave his thoughts about him having an “outburst” backstage during the lead-up to WrestleMania 42 over him being upset he used profanity during a promo segment on television. Rhodes also gave his thoughts about his praise of WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque claiming there has never been a booker in wrestling history that has been as beloved and revered as him and nobody has ever had a harder job or been better as a booker than him.

“In retrospect, I had a bit of an outburst backstage, which shockingly didn’t get reported because it seems like everything gets reported, and I knew right when I got to my bus — and when I say outburst, it’s like me muttering some curse words like on The Christmas Story and yelling and knocking over some water bottles à la Sami Zayn. Nothing too intense. But I remember getting to my bus and thinking, yeah, you outgrew that. If you want a job in the wrestling space, nobody has a harder job than Triple H right now. There’s never been a booker in the history of the business that has just been beloved and revered the entire time. Nobody has a harder job and no one can do that job better than he can do it, and it’s obviously something that interests me too. So I remember thinking when I got to the bus, thinking, yeah, I’ve outgrown that. I don’t need to be having temper tantrums. I need to be helping provide solutions.”

Rhodes also gave his thoughts about him not being willing to reveal the cause of his outburst reaction backstage.

“I’m not gonna tell you that. You’re gonna get me in trouble. It’s probably such a non-factor. I think it was an F-bomb being dropped in the ring because I am genuinely a goody two-shoes, whether people like to believe it or not and there’s really no room (for that) on our show because we get blacked out. Not only do you think you’re saying something cool but they black the feed out in the States so (people are) missing the show and we got kiddos in the crowd. Their first experience with the F-word does not need to come at a WWE show.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5