Cody Rhodes recently appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. During the interview, Rhodes spoke about receiving a more polarizing reaction from fans, his SummerSlam match with John Cena, the Cody Splash, getting slapped by Travis Scott, and more.

So if the story leading into WrestleMania 40 is doing what your dad never did, finishing the story. What was the story the year after and the story now?

“Well, the biggest thing the year after that I wanted to do was it was more of I had talked a lot about what a WWE Championship reign with me looks like. Hey, we’re gonna bring back the Winged Eagle. That took a lot, and thanks to Triple H for saying sure.”

That came back for a night. Was there talk of making that the belt? 

“I don’t think there was ever talk of making it the belt, but it was definitely only supposed to be there for one single night. Then the next thing you know, it’s hanging above the ring at the Royal Rumble, and there’s figures with it, which you know you’ve done something good there. Kevin Owens was carrying it into HQ, so I was really glad we got that. Also, you know, this wasn’t a knock on the previous run, but it was hey, there’s going to be a lot of bell-to-bell wrestling here. I want to be defending this more frequently, and I want the matches to be a little bit less entertainment, a little bit more sports. Definitely both sports entertainment, but skew to the left. So here we go to France. We’ve got AJ Styles out of the gate. That’s a prime example of what I wanted it to look like, in terms of what that first reign would be. Somebody has asked me a question recently, ‘What is this one? What is number three for you?’ I wish I had an answer, but I think every wrestler, and it’s fun if you watch people who come on your podcast, who talk to you so frequently, do they find their identity? Do they change? Are you talking to different characters? I think for me, at this point, the prime of my career, I’d like it to really define who I am. I’m not so much worried about defining what the belt is to me. I’d like myself to be fully formed and fully defined. I think I’m there as far as the American Nightmare, what that is, and how I feel, but I’ll tell you an area that’s changing is I was never a polarizing wrestler. Now I’m a polarizing wrestler.”

How does that make you feel?

“That’s the thing. I’m honored by it. I’m honored by the passion of both sides of the coin. What I would like to do and to honor those who are so excited and those who are so not, however you’d put it, is I want to make sure that I’m not gotten to by it. I think with everything I’ve been through and everything in the business, you hear people say you got thick skin. I can definitely say I have thick skin now, because I used to not have thick skin.”

How did you guys come up with the Codyvator with John Cena coming up at SummerSlam? 

“I don’t want to tell you whose idea it was, but I can say this, there’s a guy backstage who runs Gorilla. Shout out to him, Temarrio. He does not like the Codyvator. I like that he calls it the Codyvator, because we could easily just call it a lift like it’s denoted in a production budget. But he doesn’t like the Codyvator, because the Codyvator is pretty expensive, and if we’re only going to use it for me to come up, and I prefer it’s only me. But I joke with him a lot that, hey, look, dude, we’re getting bang for your buck here, two uses of the Codyvator, and it made him feel better about the use of it that night. So yeah, I’ll go ahead and credit Triple H for that one, easiest one to credit for it, but that was fun. Also, you can tell how strong a man really is when you’re going at a tiny, incremental pace and the floor is lifting you, and still had me, and I think wanted to carry me 70 yards, but didn’t need to. I can fall off your shoulders at a certain point. He’s still got it. John, certainly, all the functional strength, and you’ve seen all the hard knocks videos and all that, that’s never gonna go away.”

So, what’s the story behind the Cody splash?

“Well, a couple of things. People love to watch the table get broken. There’s only so many ways you can break a table. I don’t like setting the table up in the corner. I think that’s lame. You got to break the table. You got to break the actual table. Legs need to be down. We were scrambling for something to do in a contract signing at some point in my career, and I thought, hey, why don’t I just splash you off the top rope and keep the pen and the contract in my hand? There’s something fun about that. Plus, people love a table breaking. They’re chanting, ‘We want tables.’ By God, give them the tables. Then what would come of it is on the live events, which are no longer intimate and just for that crowd, because people will film something they saw that night and it’s out there. My splash from the live event started to make it out, and that is just a prime example of you don’t always see your age, and then maybe you see your age. So I think I’m at the prime of my career. I think I’m psychologically the best I’ve ever been. As an athlete, believe it or not, even with that splash, I feel like I’m the best I’ve ever been. However, I have committed to the idea of the Splash is a non-jump splash, it’s a fall splash. I like to get straight as a board. I like to really get out like a tree frog being flung from a tree. The one overseas, in Germany, was so high up. The idea that I would jump is insane. So now we just call it at TV lovingly, the New Jack splash, where I just fall. So there’s no splash involved. It’s just going to be a fall. But yeah, it started as the idea people love a table, let’s do this at this contract signing. What could we do? Oh, we could do this, and then we could grab your hand, and it would be a thing, but it’s developed into the New Jack splash, and I have no shame with it at all, because people do seem to enjoy it. They do. That is not a showcase of my athleticism. That’s not the one I would put my hat on athleticism over, this is just my splash and how I do it, and it’s become part of my repertoire now. So you know if I go up there, don’t expect me to jump. I’ll be falling.”

How badly were you hurt after Elimination Chamber last year in Toronto? How badly did Travis Scott hurt you?

“Travis Scott did not hurt me. It looks like he hurt me. I took a photo with Travis Scott at the OBB studio event, and I never saw that photo. I like Travis Scott. I think it’s safe to say at this point, I like Travis Scott. I like that he lended us his time and that we had moments with him. I mean, he took a Cross Rhodes. Most people just remember the slap, and I’m going to be on this side of history with it. I know it wasn’t everyone’s favorite thing. That is not the hardest I’ve ever been slapped. That’s number three. That’s number three. I’ll give you the list of slaps. Number two, Bob Holly in London. He says, ‘Fire up out there, kid.’ I don’t want to say something nefarious that gets anyone in trouble. I think someone told him to try and knock me out, because the way he slapped me was trying to knock a man out, it didn’t. I have a decent little jaw. So I took said slap. The number one might shock you, but I felt it in both of my heels. I felt it in my feet. I had to plant my feet. It was so hard. Nattie Neidhart hit me. It felt like an MLB batter swinging the bat, and I walked into it. She leveled me. So Nattie is one, Hardcore Holly two, Travis Scott, I’d say maybe three.”

But was that a legit black eye from Travis Scott?

“I’m gonna say that John Cena and The Rock gave me the black eye, and Travis Scott was there as well. So the three of them gave me the black eye and the perforated eardrum. Also, it runs, if you get anything up here, right? So if I like, dot you up here, it’s gonna run. Some people are quick healers too. I’m like, a real yellowy, gross healer, where it just takes forever. So, yeah, it was not the worst slap I ever got, and he took a great Cross Rhodes.”

Cody Rhodes Interview

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Logan Paul recently revealed that WWE management has stepped in to block his proposed $1 million boxing challenge to NFL players, citing concerns about potential injuries as the company prepares for WrestleMania 42.

The situation began after Paul stated on his Impaulsive podcast that no NFL player could defeat him in a boxing match. The comment quickly gained attention and prompted responses from several athletes, including Le’Veon Bell and Breiden Fehoko, who publicly accepted the challenge.

During a recent livestream, Paul appeared to receive a phone call from a WWE executive named Chris. In the call, the executive informed Paul that WWE would not approve the boxing matches because the company does not allow its performers to participate in outside fights that could risk injury.

The moment sparked debate online, with some fans and athletes questioning whether the phone call was legitimate. Bell even accused Paul of staging the moment as a way to avoid the fight.

However, a new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter indicates the situation was somewhat more complex. According to the report, the phone call heard during the livestream was indeed a staged recreation. Despite that, the conversation itself reportedly reflected the real discussions that had already taken place privately between Paul and WWE officials.

One source within WWE reportedly confirmed that the reasons outlined in the call accurately represented the company’s stance on the situation.

“One source in WWE said that the conversation itself that was played and everyone heard was staged, but that it was close to a replica of what actually went down in the sense that the reasons in the call why they wouldn’t allow him to box and how it was explained was how it was done.”

Another source also confirmed that the explanation presented in the clip was legitimate. While the phone call itself was planned for public release, it was reportedly used to explain why the fight could not take place after the potential bout with Bell had already generated significant media attention.

“Another confirmed the reasons as explained were legit and while not denying the phone call itself being planned for release, was essentially done publicly to explain why Paul couldn’t do the fight since the fight with Bell by that time had gotten a lot of media publicity.”

The decision to prevent Paul from participating in outside boxing matches appears tied to WWE’s plans for WrestleMania 42. According to the same report, Bron Breakker had originally been scheduled to face Seth Rollins at the event. However, those plans reportedly changed after Breakker required surgery for a hernia.

With that change, WWE is now said to be planning for Logan Paul to take Breakker’s spot as Rollins’ opponent at WrestleMania 42.

WWE Blocks Logan Paul Boxing Challenge to NFL Players Ahead of WrestleMania 42

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