The Miz & R-Truth Assess WWE Star Cody Rhodes' Wrestling Journey

As the wrestling world starts to settle back into the day-to-day following the highs of WrestleMania 40, just about everyone has reflected on Cody Rhodes' path "from undesirable to undeniable," culminating in "finishing the story" and becoming WWE Undisputed Universal Champion by defeating "The Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns. Included in that mix are the new "WWE Raw" Tag Team Champions The Awesome Truth, with both The Miz and R-Truth appearing on "The Pat McAfee Show" to close out WrestleMania weekend, sharing their thoughts on Rhodes' crowning achievement.

Asked by McAfee what fans should know about Rhodes as the guy who is about to carry the company, Truth said, "I think he's matured now. He's a whole different Cody Rhodes. Finishing a book, finishing a story, [there's] only room for a new one, to elevate, so I think we're gonna see a lot of good stuff from Cody Rhodes coming up." To follow that up, Miz leaned further into Rhodes' story as a whole, recalling their time together in OVW, WWE's primary developmental territory from 2000-08, all the way through to Sunday's WrestleMania moment.

"I remember seeing Cody's first match at Ohio Valley Wrestling when we were in developmental," Miz sad. "Then I watched his journey from 'Dashing' Cody Rhodes to having an ugly mustache to Stardust, leaving, trying to find a way to become a main-eventer, coming back to WWE and saying, 'You know what? I am a main-eventer. I'm ready for this.'" To put a stamp on his point, Miz opined that losing to Reigns last year only strengthened "The American Nightmare's" desire and that of his followers, making this year's grand finale that much more impactful. "Failing the first time at [WrestleMania 39]," he explained, "only made him stronger and made his fanbase stronger, and made us all want to yearn for it much, much more and that's exactly what we did. We wanted it, we needed it, and he had to do it at this WrestleMania and that's exactly what he did. He finished the story."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Pat McAfee Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.