Cody Rhodes On If He Sees A Match With Daniel Bryan Happening, Where He Would Like For It To Happen
Cody Rhodes did a media conference call on Tuesday to promote his upcoming match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada at Saturday's New Japan Pro Wrestling G1 Special live from Long Beach, California. WrestlingINC.com owner Raj Giri was on the call and asked Cody if he saw a match against Daniel Bryan actually happening.
"Super speculative. I don't know, I know Daniel just had a baby. Loves his wife. Loves the home life," said Cody. "I never totally understood why Dan was put in a position to retire and you know, it's not a conversation I've had with him. It's a tough conversation. You know, if he wanted to, if there was a little pressure to do so, I really don't know. But I know that what we do isn't necessarily, doesn't need to abide by the guidelines of perhaps say the NCAA. What we do there's a little bit more Shakespeare to if you catch my drift.
The whole idea of Cody facing Daniel Bryan gained steam over the weekend when Daniel Bryan issued a challenge to Cody after he won the ROH World Heavyweight Championship. Bryan later said he was trolling and Cody himself didn't see it as a challenge. Still, it's something Cody would like to do.
"I would love that match-up, I would welcome that match-up," Cody explained. "I want to solidify my bet with those who thought Ring of Honor could not currently fill a 10,000 seat arena. I said we would do it with the talent we have in-house but I think they may be able to give me an exception if we were able to swing Daniel Bryan."
Since leaving WWE, Cody has been able to work for Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling. He believes this is a contribution he has made to the professional wrestling business.
"I think one of the contributions that I have made and it's not me single handily, so I'm not saying single handily, one of the contributions I have made is that we should be able to cross the streams," said Rhodes. " And we should be able to cross the streams more often. Daniel Bryan built so much equity for himself in Ring of Honor, he should be welcome there whenever he wants. And CM Punk too. They both have a home there. And as much as the selfish side of me wants to be like, 'hey we want to do it on my own,' my God, the promoter's side of me, book those guys. That's a safe place for them to be."
"The fans absolutely love them and would absolutely be all about them and I would be more than willing to be the guy standing against them on the other side," said Cody. "From those pioneers of the whole Honor family. So I'm game."
Cody concluded his answer by explaining he would love to face Daniel Bryan in Ring of Honor.
"I would love to make it happen," said Cody. "I would love to make it happen in Ring of Honor."
On Saturday, Cody will headline New Japan's G1 Special in Long Beach, California against Kazuchika Okada in a bout for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Make sure to join us for coverage on Saturday night here at WrestlingINC.com.