Cody Rhodes On Jinder Mahal's Push, Randy Orton, Why Shane McMahon Did His Own 2K Motion Scans, WWE
On episode 137 of Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast, 'Prime Time' Sam Roberts welcomed former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes to the show. Among many other things, Rhodes talked about getting scanned for the WWE 2K video game series, WWE Champion Jinder Mahal's recent success, where he sits on the dive/headlock debate, and whether WWE has reached out to him since venturing out into the independent pro wrestling scene.
According to Rhodes, the first time WWE Superstars are scanned for the 2K video games is exciting; however it later becomes "unnecessary".
"2K, when they film you, like the first time with the bazillion cameras when you're in the room, it's a really cool experience. Every time after that, it's unnecessary. They already have this. And you can tell the difference between, like, Apollo Crews warming up and so excited. And then, you can see someone else just kicking their feet in the corner. That's a cool moment though. You're immortal after that."
Moreover, Rhodes speculated that the motion capture performer who did his Stardust entrance only watched his first entrance for inspiration. Additionally, 'The American Nightmare' mentioned that Shane McMahon did his own motion capture because he did not want someone else doing his moves.
"Whoever did my mo-cap for Stardust watched my very first entrance and nothing else because I never did half the stuff ever again and it's funny to watch. Well, hey, that's what they used, so yeah. Shane McMahon did his own mo-cap. Did you guys know that? He went and did his own mo-cap. He didn't want somebody doing his moves. Shane did his own mo-cap."
On the subject of Mahal's recent success in WWE, Rhodes joked that "maybe [Rhodes] should have stayed around [WWE] for five more minutes." Also, Rhodes said that he is pulling for 'The Modern Day Maharaja'.
"I try to live under a rock when it comes to WWE, but you can't avoid seeing your Twitter feed, people talking about Jinder Mahal wrestling Randy Orton at a pay-per-view. What a turnaround for Jinder! I hope he wins! What a? wow! What a world we live in." Rhodes continued, "I mean, he got canned, welcomed back with probably no promise of anything except enhancing up-and-coming NXT guys, and now he's in the main event! Yeah, good for Jinder!"
With respect to the dive/headlock debate, Rhodes admitted that he loves Randy Orton, but he got himself into trouble with that conflict. While Rhodes acknowledged that he appreciates the perspective of people like Rip Rogers and Jim Cornette, but from a promoter's standpoint, there is room on every card for various styles.
"I love Randy. What a mess he got himself into. What a just? why? Why the discussion even began, the dive/headlock [debate]. I mean, why did it even begin?"
Rhodes continued, "I think with Cornette and Rip, because Rip Rogers blocked me on Twitter and I have no knowledge of why. I think he got tired of, like, seeing Joey Ryan and I clips or something or picture of me and Joey Ryan. I don't know. I have no idea why. I like Rip's thought process around [pro] wrestling. I like Cornette's thought process around wrestling. But I always look at it two different ways: there's a [pro] wrestling thought process and then there's a promoter thought process. And promoters, the main goal here for these shows is to get as many people and if that's offering them a wide variety of not just one standard set of [pro] wrestling [psychology], that's what you have to do."
Also, during the interview, Rhodes admitted that he hates intergender wrestling, as the verisimilitude of a man beating up a woman runs contrary to his sensibilities as a conservative southerner. With that said, the former WWE Intercontinental Champion admitted that it may be difficult for him to turn down the challenge of wrestling a woman.
"Joey Ryan, the wrestling that Joey does is offensive to me. I have, however, wrestled him twice and loved the matches and loved the challenge. Intergender wrestling offends me; however, if someone was to offer, I don't know if I'd say 'no' because that's the challenge. We can't be stuck in one mindset." Rhodes added, "just the concept of a man touching a woman. I don't know. I'm very conservative. I don't know. I'm from the south, so like you can't put your hands on women; however, a lot of women in those matches, want those fights."
When asked whether there has been an olive branch extended by either he or WWE since embarking on his current indie run, Rhodes indicated that he had no comment on the matter.
"Zero comment. Zero. Zero comment. Nothing, nothing. No, no, I've got nothing, nothing, no? no, no, nothing. As a side note, sidebar, my wife did, we ordered the Royal Rumble because she wanted to see Goldberg. So yeah, no, that's all. I watched it. Props to Goldberg. Props to Goldberg."
Shill, Roberts, shill. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast with an H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcription.
Source: Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast