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Cody Rhodes is a young Superstar in the making, having inherited the WWE genes from his Hall of Fame father Dusty Rhodes, nicknamed The American Dream. The 28-year-old wrestler has been named The Most Handsome Superstar and he lives up to it, having donned a mask and now a mustache, and has in his short career managed to win the Intercontinental Championship in 2011, holding it for seven months.
Are you looking forward to coming to SA?
Very much. We don’t get a chance to come to South Africa as much as the other international spots, so I can tell you everyone is very much looking forward to coming.
What matches will you be participating in?
I will be competing with Tons of Funk, which means the ring is reinforced for these two gargantuous men that are pitted against me and my partner. I know Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler will also all be a part of the tour.
What do you think will happen in the match?
Anything can happen in the match when you have gentlemen of that girth. I know that if you’re not a fan of WWE or if you’re new to WWE or if you’ve only seen it on television, you’ve only seen a blip of the matches, a glimmer. With the live shows, you get a lot of the ‘sports’ of the ‘sports entertainment’, which is one of my favourite things about the world tour.
Who of the other wrestlers will you be supporting?
I don’t necessarily, you know. It will sound horrible, but I don’t really support that many of colleagues, except my best friend, Damien Sandown who is part of my tag team match. But I always support someone like the World Heavyweight Champion like Alberto Del Rio and see what he does in his Championship match because he is quite the villain, and it makes for very compelling television and very compelling matches.
Do you think wrestlers take you less seriously because of your looks?
When you have been dubbed the Most Handsome Superstar, it doesn’t make you any friends in the male locker room, but I have been able to hold the accolades that I have reached in the career I have had at my young age. I’ve been able to back up whatever I have and that’s important - holding your own - so I think they all take me seriously now.
Is it a blessing or a curse being a second-generation wrestler? What are the pros and cons?
It’s very simple. The pros are that it’s very easy to get into the field. It’s very easy to have the contacts within the large organisation like the WWE. But the cons are, ‘Hey, I am Cody Rhodes, I am the son of a Hall Of Famer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion’ – that pressure that people will try to put on you, the expectations that they try to give you is astronomical. It’s important when you’re a legacy to do something completely different than what your predecessor did. I don’t do anybody any service by being Dusty Rhodes Junior, I have to be Cody Rhodes and it’s worked for me so far.
What impact does your brother Goldust have on your wrestling career?
Goldust is, you know, an interesting individual to begin with, but I can tell you that the things he has offered to my career are a lot on the physical side. He’s a lot easier to steal little manoeuvres from than my father. So as far as how I compete as a wrestler in-between the ding-ding-ding, has a lot of influence from Goldust.
It has been a while since you had a main story line. Will that be changing any time soon?
For me, it’s really one of those things as I am very young in the industry, and I can easily get frustrated with what is happening story-wise, but it’s too much fun for me to concern myself with that stuff. I am able to go out, and lot of the times with Damian Sandown, and we’re able to go out and get this riot reaction from our audience and for me, that’s too much fun. I hope to be a huge part of the WWE future and I consider myself one of the flag-bearers for the next ten years, so I am sure I will have plenty of stories in the future.
Which do you like being more – a face or a heel?
I like being me, and unfortunately for some, being me means that I’ve been deemed as a bit of a bad guy. But I am honest, I’m a little bit of a jerk and it beams across the television set as such.
What does the future hold for Team Rhodes Scholars?
The future for Team Rhodes Scholars is no Team Rhodes Scholars. Damien is my best friend and I do enjoy tagging with him, especially the banter that exists on the microphone between the two of us. But, we are not a tag team. We can take the team right out of Rhodes Scholars so that hopefully he can pursue wonderful things in the industry and as can I.
How do you get yourself psyched for a match?
A lot of coffee. (laughs) The most important thing for me is that I warm up. It is impossible for me to get psyched up unless I am warmed up because nobody wants to get injured. What we do is entertainment, but it is still SPORTS entertainment. So for me that’s my way of getting psyched up - a good 10 to 15 minutes of yoga stretches and not speaking to anybody.
Who is your wrestling hero?
Shawn Michaels. I kind of grew up past my dad’s generation and I wasn’t really able to see a lot of what he did and a lot of it isn’t even on. So Shawn Michaels was the one that kept my attention as a young man watching. I always wanted to see him fight back, he was always fighting from underneath and it was very dramatic for a young man who is feeling the same way. He was always my hero.
Are you looking forward to coming to SA?
Very much. We don’t get a chance to come to South Africa as much as the other international spots, so I can tell you everyone is very much looking forward to coming.
What matches will you be participating in?
I will be competing with Tons of Funk, which means the ring is reinforced for these two gargantuous men that are pitted against me and my partner. I know Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler will also all be a part of the tour.
What do you think will happen in the match?
Anything can happen in the match when you have gentlemen of that girth. I know that if you’re not a fan of WWE or if you’re new to WWE or if you’ve only seen it on television, you’ve only seen a blip of the matches, a glimmer. With the live shows, you get a lot of the ‘sports’ of the ‘sports entertainment’, which is one of my favourite things about the world tour.
Who of the other wrestlers will you be supporting?
I don’t necessarily, you know. It will sound horrible, but I don’t really support that many of colleagues, except my best friend, Damien Sandown who is part of my tag team match. But I always support someone like the World Heavyweight Champion like Alberto Del Rio and see what he does in his Championship match because he is quite the villain, and it makes for very compelling television and very compelling matches.
Do you think wrestlers take you less seriously because of your looks?
When you have been dubbed the Most Handsome Superstar, it doesn’t make you any friends in the male locker room, but I have been able to hold the accolades that I have reached in the career I have had at my young age. I’ve been able to back up whatever I have and that’s important - holding your own - so I think they all take me seriously now.
Is it a blessing or a curse being a second-generation wrestler? What are the pros and cons?
It’s very simple. The pros are that it’s very easy to get into the field. It’s very easy to have the contacts within the large organisation like the WWE. But the cons are, ‘Hey, I am Cody Rhodes, I am the son of a Hall Of Famer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion’ – that pressure that people will try to put on you, the expectations that they try to give you is astronomical. It’s important when you’re a legacy to do something completely different than what your predecessor did. I don’t do anybody any service by being Dusty Rhodes Junior, I have to be Cody Rhodes and it’s worked for me so far.
What impact does your brother Goldust have on your wrestling career?
Goldust is, you know, an interesting individual to begin with, but I can tell you that the things he has offered to my career are a lot on the physical side. He’s a lot easier to steal little manoeuvres from than my father. So as far as how I compete as a wrestler in-between the ding-ding-ding, has a lot of influence from Goldust.
It has been a while since you had a main story line. Will that be changing any time soon?
For me, it’s really one of those things as I am very young in the industry, and I can easily get frustrated with what is happening story-wise, but it’s too much fun for me to concern myself with that stuff. I am able to go out, and lot of the times with Damian Sandown, and we’re able to go out and get this riot reaction from our audience and for me, that’s too much fun. I hope to be a huge part of the WWE future and I consider myself one of the flag-bearers for the next ten years, so I am sure I will have plenty of stories in the future.
Which do you like being more – a face or a heel?
I like being me, and unfortunately for some, being me means that I’ve been deemed as a bit of a bad guy. But I am honest, I’m a little bit of a jerk and it beams across the television set as such.
What does the future hold for Team Rhodes Scholars?
The future for Team Rhodes Scholars is no Team Rhodes Scholars. Damien is my best friend and I do enjoy tagging with him, especially the banter that exists on the microphone between the two of us. But, we are not a tag team. We can take the team right out of Rhodes Scholars so that hopefully he can pursue wonderful things in the industry and as can I.
How do you get yourself psyched for a match?
A lot of coffee. (laughs) The most important thing for me is that I warm up. It is impossible for me to get psyched up unless I am warmed up because nobody wants to get injured. What we do is entertainment, but it is still SPORTS entertainment. So for me that’s my way of getting psyched up - a good 10 to 15 minutes of yoga stretches and not speaking to anybody.
Who is your wrestling hero?
Shawn Michaels. I kind of grew up past my dad’s generation and I wasn’t really able to see a lot of what he did and a lot of it isn’t even on. So Shawn Michaels was the one that kept my attention as a young man watching. I always wanted to see him fight back, he was always fighting from underneath and it was very dramatic for a young man who is feeling the same way. He was always my hero.
