Cody Rhodes (@americannightmarecody) is a WWE professional wrestler and actor. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Atlanta, GA to discuss playing Guile in the new “Street Fighter” movie, dressing up in costume complete with Guile’s hair at the movie’s premiere, signing his last WWE contract, how long he intends to wrestle for, reacting to Dan Soder and Will Sasso’s impressions of Dusty Rhodes, reflecting back on WrestleMania 40 and the idea of “peak wrestling”, calling out The Rock for a one-on-one match, his Mount Rushmore of films, and more!
I believe this is our seventh interview together. The first was WrestleMania 27 Axxess with Undashing Cody Rhodes
“Who wore the protective facial mask, but also a Burberry polo. That’s a time period where you don’t have your own brand guidelines. You don’t even know the things you like. So it’s just, hey, this will work. You have to do an appearance. So if I was to do that appearance today with the undashing mask, I would have just done full gear. Yeah, it feels more comfortable if you do full gear while you’re being performative and also meeting fans. You’re in the line of the question that you’ve asked many times, but you’re in the line of are you in character or are you out of character? I think if you’re undashing Cody Rhodes on TV and you’re at Axxess, you’re technically supposed to be in character, so I’d say full gear.”
Why do you think that question haunts you so much?
“You know, now I say it, and it’s not so much haunting. I should frame it differently. You asked me the question on one of our talks, and I think I should frame it more as, what’s a good way? The question’s a good question, and the question’s an important question, and I kind of give it a dramatic answer. That’s something you should ask yourself, like me, before I do anything. Because there are probably times, the best prime example is Undashing Cody Rhodes to be in some sort of character, and then there’s times when that’s not a good call at all, also not to waste anyone’s time, right? Not to waste your time, not to waste someone else’s time, or you don’t want to look back at these interviews and think, man, I was just completely full of it, or I was trying to sell a ticket versus actually having a conversation.”
How much of that is being the son of the legend Dusty Rhodes and watching him?
“I think I told you. I used to know when he was on in the morning. Did I tell you this? So I used to know when he was on because he had an office. I’d go down the steps. His office would be on the right, and in his office he’d sit there. It’s very funny because my dad didn’t work an office job, but he liked having an office. So he’d go down in the morning, Cuban coffee, which I found is vastly different from American coffee, because I assumed it was all Cuban coffee until the first time I got gas station coffee and thought, oh, different. Where’s the intense amount of sugar and flavor? But no, he had an office to the right of the steps, and he’d just be down there nine to five every day. That was literally what he would do. Sometimes you’d wonder what he was doing in there, but I knew when he was on and in character because if he did a radio spot or did anything like that, I’d hear him talk in the voice. I don’t think a lot of people know Dusty’s voice was not that, and it wasn’t even turned up. As he gets older and you see interviews with him as an older man, you can start to hear what he actually sounded like. In the beginning I can’t imagine how difficult that was. Every stop you made on a trip to always talk so loud and so whimsical preacher style, the Baptist Church and Thunderbolt Patterson is where he got the majority of the gift of gab and poetry.”
I had Will Sasso and Dan Soder on my show. What did you think of their Dusty impressions?
“So here’s what I wanted to tell them, and I don’t know them, and I almost contacted you and said, Oh, I want them to know this. They’re telling this funny story about Dusty promoing Ric off the line, and Ric kind of going back and forth. I can’t tell you that that is actually true, but I can tell you it was rooted in these things like that did actually happen, where a simple conversation about something then needed to heat up to where the vocals changed, and the next thing you know they were going back and forth. Because remember there’s no texting, email was not a thing. I mean, it was literally the landline at your house. So, as funny and as outlandish as it was, it felt a little bit like that could have been a thing that actually happened. Ric always, and I don’t know Ric as near as well as my father did, but Ric always was so passionate and took things personally and cared. Where my dad was like that, as they described in their impressions, where he was really more almost flippant. It’s another day. We’ll move on; it was incredible. Their impressions are great, and you know this. I hate impressions usually. I hate them. I don’t hate them, but this is what people don’t totally get on the impressions.”
“I’m going to take this deep. Their impressions were so nice, sweet, funny. Even my sister laughed at them, so they’re nailing it. They should keep doing those impressions. I say they’re very good, but here’s something people don’t get about the Dusty impression when they do it in front of me, oh my gosh, I would have loved if he was really here. So it’s a thing when people do it in front of me. I have said in so many interviews, and I can see your mind working now. This will be the thing that you clip down, you’ll use it against me, maybe. I have said in so many interviews that I don’t really love getting gifts, and I don’t ever want my dad’s personal things. I don’t think those interviews have ever been seen because the amount of stuff that comes to signings, whether it’s a trading card or something he wore or a picture of him. They’re always with the best of intent and the sweetest things, and I will always graciously take them. But in my mind, I’m thinking, you should have this; you keep it. I do tell people a lot on shows where I’m making the rounds. I’m like, you take it, it’s better with you, especially if it was something he wore. I don’t need that. I got my own; I got plenty, but that’s usually what I tell people is it’s better with you.”
I’m gonna flip the script. Chris, who is on your Mount Rushmore?
So Stone Cold is on there. The Rock is on there. You got to put Hulk Hogan on there. Then the final spot is always tough! I think it’s The Undertaker. Is Dusty on yours?
“Sometimes he is because I look at it from the need for the big thing that happened in the ’80s in terms of Hogan being a big part of it on the other side when he was at the Fed. See how I did that? Closed circuit and pay-per-view. Vince, Hogan: closed circuit becomes pay-per-view. Boxing, of course. Don King is a massive part of that, but we were doing that also here in the South. We were doing that as well. Maybe not with such a pomp and circumstance, but that’s one of the reasons why I kind of will put Dusty there. In addition to that, all the people he started, and all the people he helped in the final chapter, I’ve noticed that he had such a lasting impact. It’s one of the things I hoped for Hogan that I was obviously so bummed about is the documentary comes out and he passes, and it’s Hogan didn’t get to have that old man run. He didn’t get to have that senior advisor that whatever it may be he didn’t get to do that, and I think that would have been something that would have been really great for the industry as a whole because he’s Hulk Hogan.”
I wasn’t sure today if you’d be dressed as Guile. You’ve been doing so much stuff as Guile. How do you decide if you’re going to be dressed as Guile or wearing a Cody Rhodes suit?
“This is going to sound crazy, and no, it won’t sound crazy. But Guile, when I do Guile, I want to respect the writers on the movie, because the writers did such an incredible job putting Street Fighter together and the character. I also want to respect Capcom in that I don’t ever want to catch myself creating dialog for Guile. I’m an actor on this beautiful piece of business right here, and I was honored to even don that flat top and be part of this. But I don’t want to add any context or equity because my hope is this becomes Street Fighter One turns into Street Fighter Two. Every one of us had a blast playing these characters, and I think we want them to grow. So I keep it very limited. A lot of grunts, a lot of thumbs up, a lot of Uncle Sam points, a salute occasionally. But yeah, it’s limited things that I do as Guile would be tough, because then your question about when are you not in character? Well, what are we doing? It’s one thing if you’re wearing a helmet or a mask because you can almost be you under it and explain it. Guile is such an iconic thing. This is a scary thing about this movie, and it was always going to be a scary thing. I can’t imagine how Callina [Liang] felt, or [Andrew] Koji, or Noah [Centineo]. These characters mean so much to people, and you see them and generational feelings, and cosplay and the fighting game community-they mean so much, man. We cannot do this wrong. Which is thank gosh we had Kitao [Sakurai] to direct this movie because it was about getting it accurate and Capcom being there as a partner. It’s a big amount of responsibility. It’s silly as it all may look to be.”
When you moved to Hollywood at 19, did you book any roles?
“I didn’t even go on an audition. I didn’t book any roles. I didn’t go on an audition. I got my Challenge for the Actor by Uta Hagen book, and I attended Comprehensive Technique with Howard Fine, and then instead of moving on to scene study, I became a stage manager at the Howard Fine Studio just to do Comprehensive Technique again, because I needed the kindergarten level, the first grade level. I needed to completely build up, which was something I was saying on the carpet the other day for the premiere. I hope there’s so many more things for me to do in this world because I need to flex the muscle. Wrestling can do so much for you as a storyteller, but the transition is different. You’ve seen it with John, you’ve seen it with Dwayne, you’ve seen it with Batista. My gosh, and some of the material he’s taking on. This isn’t a walk in the park. This is challenging. I was very challenged by Street Fighter, and you need those reps, and you need that time.”
Have you received any advice from those three that you mentioned, John Cena, The Rock, or Dave Bautista, when it comes to transitioning into this world?
“Well, particularly with John and Rock, I feel like there’s a ton of advice, and not just a ton of advice. Those guys are money where their mouth is type. They both are very big on the resources that they have can be your resources. I know that’s rather inside baseball, and it’s the classic case of this might be where you click this thing up right here, and it becomes a classic CVV 27-seconder. But I mean, they really do their resources. Brad Slater and I work together now. Brad Slater has been with the final boss long enough. He’s won Super Bowl after Super Bowl, box office with DJ, and then John is the forever. You’ve sat here with John, he’s a mentor to everybody who is worthy of the time, and some even who aren’t. He really wants to pass something on. So they’ve both been wonderful, hands down, wonderful.”
So if you moved to Hollywood at 19, was acting the original dream?
“I’m usually really quick to say no, because I grew up loving wrestling so much, and that was all I ever wanted to do. The story about seeing the picture at eight years old and wanting to win the WWE title-it’s a real story. But there’s a couple quotes from a 19-year-old where I might have said acting was the first dream, and even my brother has gone on to you know, Dustin’s good for a hot moment on social media, as you know. I think he’s gone on to say, oh, he always wanted to be an actor. I always wanted to be in entertainment, and the first love I had in the whole world, other than my mom, my sister, and my dad, was wrestling. So I think wrestling was always the thing.”
We need to talk about this popcorn bucket. It is brilliant.
“Is it the first ever wearable popcorn bucket? If we’re gonna Guinness this thing down, I think it might be the first ever wearable. I heard about it and thought they can’t do that. That doesn’t work. You’re gonna wear it? Then when I saw it, it works. It’s functional. There’s the strap. It can act as a Halloween costume as well. What I would recommend to people is not to get angry at the popcorn bucket in front of them if they can’t see over it, and do not reach in the back of people’s heads because that’s going to be a thing.”
WrestleMania 42. You take the punt from Randy. What was the actual injury?
“I think we skated by with a little bit of an orbital fracture, and that’s not on anyone’s fault but my own. It was bad. I think we skated by a little bit of an orbital fracture, and I think I am mad at myself for doing so because it’s affected my work since, super slowed down.”
Peripheral vision?
“Yeah, just to a degree, to a little bit, and I feel like that’s you can’t go out there QB 1 and saying you’re in your prime, and you’re the best you’ve ever been. If you’re dealing with something that’s a bit of a hindrance like that, but at this point we’re out the woods. I got through it. I showed up the next night. I am toxic as can be when it comes to physical stuff. Toxic as can be. I can go. Tape it up. I can go.”
Like the pec muscle?
“I’m letting you know that’s not good. If you’re a young wrestler, don’t do it. Don’t. Live to fight another day. Something about me can’t not want to go. I don’t know what it is. I love it too much. Maybe it’s ego. I don’t know, but I just can’t not. Yeah, that was a nasty one.”
People talk about WrestleMania 40, especially Night Two, being peak wrestling. Did you feel it that night?
“To me, wrestling is never a dirty word for me, right? But I’d actually say it’s peak art, and I tell people all the time who misunderstand wrestling and think, oh, there’s goofiness to what we do. There’s a lot of goofiness to what we do. There is, and some nights it’s what you think. Then other nights, it’s better than any other story you might have ever seen, and I’m not saying that was, but I know when you’re in one of those moments, and there have been so many significant moments throughout history, and they’re not always loaded with drama. Just think about Steve spraying the beer. Think about Hogan slamming Andre, like that. Those moments, they rise to the highest points of- I’m using the word I never thought I’d use, art. It’s one of the reasons all the great wrestlers that I grew up loving were big-time film buffs. This is their way of telling stories, and this is their canvas-the squared circle, the ring. But you name it. Somebody who is a big film buff or a huge music fan, and not that everyone isn’t, but even on a deeper connective level, how do I put this together? How do I entertain?”
So a different Mount Rushmore question. What is your Mount Rushmore of movies?
“Empire Strikes Back. You have to put Godfather. I have my two. I don’t like them, but it’s a personal one. Forrest Gump, and Tombstone.”
You’d previously said that you were going to retire at 40.
“Yeah, I did, didn’t I?”
Look at everything you’ve accomplished since.
“Told you an old Cody lie, huh? An old 40, huh? And here I am.”
Do you have a number in your mind now? Maybe you haven’t made it public, but do you think about how much longer you want to do it?
“I just signed my last contract. I say last contract, but that’s going to go for a while, and if I’m able to do what I’ve been able to do, because I would love this year not to be just one movie, but perhaps two movies, and I’d love to kind of be able to share that at some point, get that going, and be in that. With all that said, my time with WWE could go. I mean, just to give you a real answer here, and not politic around you, probably seven years. Six, seven? I didn’t mean it like that, but yeah, you know that’s a kids’ thing, right? Had to have Carmelo Hayes explain to me what that was, and I still didn’t get it. Yeah, six, seven years. I’d say so. Yeah, and I don’t want to say that in a final sense. I just know that I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
AJ Styles made it clear when we talked he didn’t want to wrestle into his 50s. Do you have that kind of feeling?
“Well, I definitely don’t want to wrestle into my 50s. No shame to anyone who wrestles in their 50s. I don’t want to overstay my welcome in a sense of this, right? So, I have been given so much from wrestling, and you have to think about my career in its totality. The things that we don’t talk about, the things that I don’t get asked about anymore. You have to think about all that. I have shed so much of my skin for the industry, but I have also been given so, so, so much. I think there’s a point where you have to stop taking. I’m not there, but there’s a point, and I think that’s in that time frame, a point where you just have to stop taking. It’s giving me everything. I am talking to you today, the first time I talked to you, I was a mid-card talent at WWE, and no shame to anything in the mid-card. Mid-card’s beautiful. I heard Triple H explain mid-card in a way that changed my perception of it forever. But I was a mid-card talent with a ceiling that was right above my head, and I’m talking to you today as someone who got to play Guile from Street Fighter, created by Capcom, a game that I played growing up as a little kid. Again, be careful what you wish for, but also I don’t know how many moments like this I can take, and I can get hopefully more, hopefully a lot more. But I’ve been so lucky so far and so blessed so far that I think wrestling. I mean, Cody fatigue is already pretty set in.”
You feel that?
“Well, no, maybe. But I think you can only go so far, and you’re only supposed to go so far.”
You previously called out The Rock for a one-on-one match. Were you going to have a one-on-one match with The Rock?
“Oof. It’s not that I’m evading that answer. It’s that I don’t really know how to answer because I think personally he has a couple of matches probably left to do. I think that personally, but I also know looking at WrestleMania 40 and another guy who he’s given all, continues to give all as part of the board. He could easily say that was a great final piece as a performer in a wrestling ring. That’ll be up to him. That’ll certainly be up to him if there’s more and what those matches might be. I don’t think any wrestler would ever look you in the eye and tell you they wouldn’t want a match like that.”
What is Cody Rhodes grateful for?
“My oldest daughter, this movie, and the critics of my wrestling career.”
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