Cody Rhodes Discusses Whether He or The Rock Ever Crossed the Line in Promos Ahead of WWE WrestleMania 40

During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, WWE champion Cody Rhodes reflected on his feud with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson up to this point. Here are the highlights from ChrisVanVliet.com:

On whether The Rock has ever crossed the line with some of his promos:

“Depends on what line. When you’re the director of the board, you can do whatever you want. The show is not going off the air and no one’s getting fired if you do something that’s a little outrageous. That gave him free rein to develop and enter into The Final Boss. [You turned the Rock heel]. Well, what happened with The Rock at WrestleMania 40 is the first time I ever believed in my own hype. So, the first time I ever thought, oh, maybe someone from this generation did get over. Because to me, I tell my students, I tell people all the time nobody today is over. Because you hear over all the time and to me over is you can’t step a foot out your house without cameras, without a moment. I just have a loftier opinion of over. John Cena is over. This is the first time I thought, oh, maybe that’s happening. Line wise, the only line I think he crossed was he made my sister Teil non-canon because he had mentioned that I had two other siblings, Dustin and Kristen, who are from my dad’s first marriage, which is, you know, you’re not wrong that I do have them. And he was explaining [that] when he called me a mistake. But he made Teil non-canon, and Teil was like the closest I have; this is my original best friend. You know, so that was a little…I felt bad. I felt bad for her. I feel Mama Rhodes is a person who never wanted to be ever on camera. And now you got a security guard in Heathrow terminal airport [who recognizes her]. If he thought that was a line that he was crossed, I feel maybe it actually backfired because she’s now a part of it all.”

On whether Cody himself ever felt like he crossed the line:

“I feel maybe I crossed the line. I did a promo where I said he had LDS. Actually, I feel like a lot of people liked the interview and got a nice round of applause when I came back through the curtain, but it felt so off-brand for me. Because we have so many young kids that I felt like this one guy is the guy that I’m gonna go to these lengths for. And maybe that’s what makes this all click—this genuine animosity and smile at each other but probably deeply dislike one another. If he’s the one who’s gonna bring it out in me, it’s probably good TV, but it did feel a little, I guess, icky in the moment.”

On the mystery item given to him by The Rock:

“It’s very important that whenever I talk about The Rock—and I feel like I’ve talked about him a lot—people have a lot of questions about him and things of that nature. Very important, he is my boss, which he’s not on the ground as much so you don’t remember, but he’s my boss. He is one of the biggest if not the biggest name that ever came from pro wrestling. I mean, there’s an argument. Some people don’t even make the argument, if you’re looking at your Hulk Hogans, your Austins, Rock’s, he’s a Mount Rushmore wrestler. He then went on to be the biggest star in the world in terms of film and Hollywood and a modern action hero when we needed one. If Rock decided today he’s going to run for President of the United States, my gosh, he would win in a landslide. He’s just one of the most recognizable people on the planet. I’m sure he’ll explain down the road what it was, and I’m sure his kind of…what would you call Brian Gewirtz to him? Extremely talented individual Brian Gewirtz who kept Raw on track for years and years and years, but he’s kind of a Starscream to Rock’s Megatron. I’m sure Brian will do some media where he puts something out there or skews the timeline. Again, utmost respect for both of them.”

On calling out The Rock:

“Offer still stands. And again, if he never comes back, he’s done it all. He really has. And as much as I insulted him previously, it was an honor to be part of his last outing. But what I learned physically in the ring with him, it shouldn’t be his last outing. There’s more. There’s not just gas left in the tank, there might be multiple tanks. There’s more, and I would like the WWE Universe or pro wrestling fans to see that. I think there’s a world where [he’s the] WWE Director of the Board, great. But I think there’s a world with WWE really benefits and this young audience being able to connect with him—they don’t know him as the people’s champ, they know him as The Final Boss. That offer stands whenever.”