Hour 2: Patriots’ Outlook, FOX Sports’ Maurice Edu Talks World Cup, plus WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes

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0:43Join the Nordi Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Rich Eisen Show with guest host Suzy Schuster.

1:32Suzy, you're ten times better than your husband. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show, ESPN senior NBA writer Vincent Goodwill. Coming up, WWE superstar Cody Rhodes. World Cup analyst Maurice Adu. Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Webber. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Suzy Schuster.

2:22We refer to him as superstar. I want to be referred to as superstar Susie Schuster from now on. And by the way, try to say that three times fast. You could. I mean, look, Billy Graham. Not be glad you tried. Billy Graham was superstar. You could be superstar. Superstar Susie Schuster. I'm just saying. Triple S. Triple S, right? That'd be nice. Let's do it. We get to have Cody Rhodes join us now, which is very exciting because I've done a lot in my career, but I've never interviewed, number one, a superstar. But forget about the undisputed WWE champion, Cody Rhodes. And what I really want to know from you more than anything else, and welcome to the show first.

2:53What's up, brother? Thank you. Welcome. Benvenuti. Thank you. Let's talk about what's important, which is how much time have you spent in Italy? And the follow-up, of course, is what's the first thing you're going to eat when you go there? Oh, that's a really great question. The funny thing is I'll actually leave from here today. I'll go to Liverpool for a non-televised event. Then we kick to Barcelona for Friday Night SmackDown. Then we finally make it to Turin for Clash in Italy, and we have that show in addition to Florence and Rome. I don't know because the stakes are high. The pressure is there in terms of what's the authentic Italian experience.

3:33Do you have a recommendation? I have so many. Yes, she does. I have so many. We will talk about this off the show. Yeah, I mean, are you kidding me? I love Italy more than life itself, Rich, and I spend a lot of time there. Are we used to before our three kids ruined our life? and um but yeah i mean are you kidding we will we'll chat i've got places in florence rome i don't know twitter you know very well but i can i can really go deep for you and i'm going to give you some phraseology to use while you're over there too because why not um this is so exciting and by the way don't miss all the action wwe clash in italy sunday may 31st at 2 p.m eastern 11 a.m pacific on the espn app you get that with an espn unlimited plan but what's it going to be like for you bringing your sport to Italy the way you are.

4:19The world attention to wrestling is at an all-time high. So what's it going to be like for you as the ambassador there? One of the things I'm really excited about was last year we went and we were in Milan, and it was just a live event. Again, it was non-televised. And Nick Khan, president of WWE, has been really good about using the live events overseas as potential tests for can we go over there and do a huge ple like we're doing this sunday with clash in italy and in milan i told them afterwards i said i can tell and uh make some noise for me one last time so everybody back home can hear you i can tell we're going to be coming back i love the fact that they've not made a liar out of me when it comes to those moments, because they are such a rambunctious, energetic, and also they're non-tiring, which is a really great thing in terms of what we do in wrestling.

5:15And we try to put on a nice, concise show for everybody, but they won't wear out all night long. They sing. There's an element of hooliganism to it that's beautiful that we don't always get domestically and they're excited to see everybody. I think for me, it'll be fun to see if they consider my opponent, Gunther, one of them, because everyone keeps saying we're going to be in Europe, but I, Gunther's Austrian. He's not, he's not an Italian. So I'm curious to see if it carries over. I don't think it will. Yeah. Whether it'll cross that border. Right. I mean, it's just up the road from you. What are you expecting from him?

5:53I mean, And obviously he said he was coming for the gold. And what do you have to say about that? Well, he's a big cat-like athlete, if that makes any sense. There's guys who, history-wise, Terry Gordy, Bam Bam Bigelow, Vader is probably the best example. Gunther has that skill. And when he walks in a room and you see how physically impressive he is, and he has a whole style to him that's different from anybody else in the game. But these are the type of matches he hasn't been in in a while. He's been in nostalgia matches. Goldberg, AJ Styles as he was leaving the company. John Cena retiring after I'd already beat John Cena.

6:31I think this is a prize fight. It's a different type of match, and it's not one he's ready for. What's been the greatest moment in your career? Oh, that should be an easier answer. But it has to likely be WrestleMania 40 because capturing, I just took it off my shoulder because it was getting uncomfortable, but capturing the WWE championship is probably the most real story that I could possibly tell in sports entertainment and pro wrestling that blends fact and fiction because it was the title that my dad never won and was so close to winning. And I really thought it was out of my hands by the time I'd come back to WWE to be able to hold it up and hand it to my mom.

7:14uh it's also lingering today because everyone who put me on their shoulders in the ring and celebrated almost all of them have turned on me uh at this point so like all modern wwe spins out of wrestlemania 40 and that that has to be the the best moment in my career and what's the match that you wish that you could get back oh get back in terms of change it or just be back in that moment let's do both oh to be back in that moment would probably be battleground in buffalo new york because it became almost a second hometown for me that's the one real rare appearance of my brother and my dad and i all together and there was we were middle of the car there was some question on whether the Buffalo crowd would like the Rhodes family story, and they came alive and brought us to new heights.

8:12Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, who I know you're familiar with Seth Rollins, a friend of the show. They're also all in the ring, so it was fun to share that moment. A match I wish I could get my win back is – this is a bit inside baseball, but this is the truth, and he knows it, no pun intended. Ron Killings has been ducking me and I whispered in his ear two weeks ago that I never forget anything and he made my life a living hell when I was dashing Cody Rhodes, when I was Stardust and I think he's got like 30 something victories on me finishing the story the term we have and Michael Cole coined at WWE really wasn't about winning the WWE title, it's about beating Ron, beating Truth And when I do that, I'll be complete.

9:04I can sleep at night after I beat truth. I can. I'm very petty, Triple S. I'm very petty. I really like that about you because, Cody, guess what? So am I. I got questions for you. Who carries your belt? Is there a bag man who carries that for you? No, ma 'am. I carry the belt with me through all the airports. I also, WWE, will always like to keep track of the belt. This is maybe a bit of nobody knows, but there's barcodes on the inside of the belts now to keep track. And I, if there's two of them floating out there, I make sure I have all two on me at all times. When you're the champion, that's got to be very real.

9:53You got to carry that thing with you everywhere. You got to talk to the guy running it through the x-ray and tell him about it. That's fun. That's one of those champagne problems that when you don't have that extra weight in your bag, you're going to miss it. So what happens if you're having a bad day? I mean, that's what's so funny. Here goes TJ with his belt, which, by the way, I'm not sure if you know this is non-authentic. but you're right. You have to talk to everybody. You got to be on all the time. That's got to be exhausting. I mean, yes and no, but I maybe because I hit my stride and sports entertainment, pro wrestling a little later in my career than I wanted to.

10:32I really don't take any of it for granted. You'll, you'll never hear me complain about the fans in the hotel or the airport collectors or our moments when I'm not in the best of spirits or doing interviews. That's all, that's a gift. That's a, that, that's a gift. And I don't know, I got a lot of that, even though I'm not a boomer, I got a lot of that boomer mentality where I love it. This is a gift to be able to work every day and live my dreams. And, you know, I know it will end at a certain point with all the retirements we've had in WWE. So I don't really have bad days, triple S. I don't. That's so nice.

11:10So good to hear that because there are so many players. I don't know as much about the wrestling world, but so many players who begrudge their fame, begrudge their popularity and don't always treat the fans the way they should. And I remember when I was covering a World Series one year, there was one player in particular who just just couldn't be nice. And I said to him, like, you realize that that one interaction that you just had and he'd say, excuse, you don't get it. He just wants me to sign so he can sell it. And I said, that might be the case, but you don't know. And that one interaction that you had changes that person's life permanently as opposed to it just being a Wednesday for you.

11:48So it's kind of nice that you have that perspective. Well, you talk about the ones who sell it. I've heard John Cena say this, and I don't want to misquote him, but I feel the same way. And that doesn't seem like a problem for me. That's if anything, I'm flattered that I can help you out by signing my name on this Funko Pop again. It's an absurd thing. And maybe I got this opinion when I was doing independence and I was away from WWE. But when you show up to the airport and no one's there, that's that's that's that's that's so so I don't I don't take him for granted. I'll laugh if there's like online video of me having a terrible experience at the airport sometime.

12:32And then it can fly in the face, my hypocrisy. But right now in this moment, I think I've always been pretty good with it. What's your goal? What do you want to do? Do you want to be Cena-ish and go off to Hollywood? What's your plan? I definitely want to grow beyond telling stories in the ring. I got the opportunity to do Street Fighter. Comes out this October. Katao Sakurai directed this movie. I just saw bits of it the other day. I think it's going to be a huge hit. I hope it is because I had such a fun time making it. 50 cents in there. Jason Momoa, Noah Centineo, unbelievable cast. But I want to do more of that.

13:11What we do in the ring is tell stories. I'd love to do it outside of falling down in the pro wrestling ring. But that'll come when this is done. Cena's a great example. Ric Flair's another great example. uh hulk hogan every triple h my boss everyone who carried the actual main title in the industry has to carry it with the responsibility that comes with it and the responsibility has a timeline on it so keeping this as long as i can is is the immediate goal uh beyond that there's a few matches left on the board at wwe i haven't had and there'll be new matches coming about each day because we have so many guys getting locked and loaded down at nxt that i'll probably want to touch before all is said and done.

13:56But moving into Hollywood is a definite natural extension of what we do next. Just being able to tell stories, Batista, Dwayne, Cena, Terry Funk even. There's been so many examples of guys who really did well with it and brought their skill set over it. Yeah, it's too bad you don't look like you should be in movies anyway. One more question about the belt. what does it weigh? And is it two more questions I lied? And then is it like the Lombardi where if you don't win it, you don't touch it? Or do people like to touch it? Like, what's the story there? The Lombardi question is a great question. I believe that, that if you don't win it, you don't touch it.

14:39The young Gen X, Gen Zs, which they're taking over. So I got to stop talking about them begrudgingly, but they don't give a damn. You can talk about them begrudgingly here. We're very begrudgy. Braun Breaker is probably going to win the WWE title more than once in his career, but he had just come up from NXT and he's on the sideline doing media for us wearing the WWE championship, the replica one they had handed him that I'm pretty sure he was supposed to give to a coach somewhere. that generation doesn't really have that same rule about not touching the title. So maybe it's just a bit old school in terms of you shouldn't touch it.

15:19I always thought it was taboo before you won it. For example, I've never touched the World Heavyweight Championship that Roman Reigns has because it's not mine. I haven't touched it. You touch it when you win it, if that makes any sense. And then what was the first question? How much does that weigh? let's give you the wrestler exaggerated weight of let's say let's say it weighs 19 pounds but famously yeah famously the nwo title uh nwo nwo i mean nwa championship was the 10 pounds of gold i think they all kind of fall into that same category somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds yeah after a while at the airport that's going to feel really heavy all right tj i know you're just chomping, hop in.

16:05TJ has his own show, doesn't he? When are you going to go on TJ's wrestling with O'Shea? When are you going to hop on the pod? That's the crazy thing. He's in here. Greg is over here on his phone. Zach is floating around. I asked them about their show. I want to come on it. I want you on No Contest Wrestling. We want him on No Contest Wrestling. Shout out to Greg Domino. I hear he's in the building. And Susie, for you to dare say that the No Contest Wrestling Championship is inauthentic, that's a little That's a little harsh. I wouldn't say that about this 20 pounds of gold that Dave Milliken made for us.

16:3920 pounds of gold? Should I walk over there? It's so far away. No, you don't have to. Maybe what she meant is it's unverified, right? You know what I mean? I don't know. It's not. Have you wrestled for it yet? Yeah. I did wrestle, but I did get into a street fight outside of 7-Eleven over it. Honestly, that counts. If you and O'Shea get in the ring right there in front of you, I will award it to the winner and until then, inauthentic. Well, we're a tag team, so we're not going to fight either. No, I want to see the two of you fight. That's fine. That doesn't even make sense. But listen, Cody, you mentioned something earlier about independence, right?

17:15And you are just such a great example of someone who bet on himself, right? A lot of people out there or in situations at work, they don't really have it in them to leave that situation and go somewhere and bet on themselves. Ten years ago, you famously did that. You kind of left a job that you seemed to have a pretty decent spot in, but you wanted more, right? Can you just give me that mentality back in 2016? What made you so confident that you could go out on your own and have success? the success that's led you to having that championship that you're holding right now? I think the only thing that can give you confidence in a moment like that, if you're naturally a confident person, perhaps, but I'm not, I think what gave me the confidence to do so was not when I initially did it, when I left, when I put my statement out, when I didn't even sign my release papers, when I just walked, when the world mobilized on social media, which is why I never want to give up on social media as crazy as it's gotten.

18:21When the world mobilized on there to support me and, and then the list comes out and here's who I'm going to be wrestling. And then they not only supported me on social, they did so with their own wallets and came to these small shows from Joppa, Maryland, you know, daily city, California, whatever it may be. Cody, I was first row at PWG when you wrestled Trevor Lee back in the day, you know, the ring broke on us. I remember the ring breaks in that. Yeah, no, that all, all of that, if I didn't have it, which I didn't, it was a very big bluff. This is a big card game and it was a big bluff and it ceased being a bluff.

19:00The student ties, the braggadocia, the confidence, all of it ceased being a bluff. The moment the fans actually stood behind me, you know, I'm, I'm very much propped up by that fandom. and that I've continued to be through every endeavor I took. The only thing I can say for those who are out there and they're wanting more and wanting to do more, it's easy for me to say it now, having got to the top of the mountain in the wrestling space and trying to build a new mountain, I guess. But then it was a matter of surrounding myself with people who would support me. Brandi Rhodes, she had a job that they weren't even considering her leaving.

19:43And she walked off that ship with me. And the fact, the gentleman that I would find outside of WWE and the places I would go and the fans I would meet, all of that, I surrounded myself with people who wanted to win. You know that saying, mediocrity loves company. And I didn't want to, there's a famous clip, God bless him, Hornswoggle. They asked him what he thought about me leaving. And he said, it was dumb. He said, I should just take the check. And I liked that guy. He didn't mean anything negative by it. But that isn't how I live. I'm not just there to take the check. I don't even look at my checks.

20:17I'm there for the moment. I'm there for that engagement with the fans. And I just wanted more and knew I was capable. You've got this huge title match coming up against Gunther this weekend at the Clash. And as people know, Gunther has retired Goldberg. He's retired John Cena. He's retired AJ Styles. else so he's a very formidable opponent now you said you wanted to come on no contest wrestling we're gonna make that happen at some point but this afternoon Gunther is actually appearing on no contest wrestling with O'Shea and I so I don't know if you two will run into each other before you step into that squared circle is there any words that you would have for Gunther before he tries to take what's yours this weekend no I would tell him to enjoy his time with with Do you guys enjoy making the media rounds?

21:11This is some of the most fun you'll ever have. And he's getting to do that because he's wrestling for the richest prize in our game at Clash in Italy, which in my mind is starting to become one of the big four. And it only continues if he leaves Italy with the title. And as you know, and as O'Shea knows, I am easy to find and I am hard to beat. So if he's to take the title and clash in Italy, then he can be the one to come back on your show and have it. But I think the way it will go is you'll talk to him. It'll be a great conversation. And then hopefully I'll show up in a few weeks and I'll have the title in tow and it will be a better conversation.

21:49That is some next level Jedi mind tricks. I'm happy for him, man. Enjoy that media, you know, have a good time. Yeah, but you basically, I mean, that was cold. So he's basically saying, you're basically saying he's doing this because of you. Yeah. Have fun being a tourist in Italy, Gunther. Yeah, right. I mean, basically he's doing it not, I wouldn't say because of me, because of the WWE championship. There's a few prize fighters that are left in the WWE space, and there's more of them growing each day with what Shawn Michaels and Baldo are teaching him to do at NXT. but you've got a CM Punk, you've got a Roman Reigns, you've got a Obafemi, you've got myself, the WWE champion, you've got Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre.

22:35Whenever you're up against those guys, you're going to make the rounds. So Gunther hopefully gets into that golden circle at some point. You know, good luck. All right, so this is all you have to know for Italy, okay? You have to be able to say,

22:57That's a lot. Break it down. Okay, so just again, ready? We're going to try this. I'll do it again really fast. Yeah. Grazie mille, ma posso mangiare il primo pranzo. Grazie mille. Grazie mille, ma, if you really want to be polite, vorrei mangiare il mio pranzo prima. Vorrei mangiare? What's the second part? Vorrei mangiare? Il mio pranzo prima. Oh, gosh, I can't. What? Posso mangiare il mio pranzo prima. Il mio pranzo prima. In mio pranzo prima. If you really wanted to say, you can just say, posso mangiare prima. Just say, posso mangiare prima. What does it mean? It's like, thanks so much, but can I finish my lunch first?

23:49Because everyone's going to say, autografico, autografico. You say, grazie mille, ma posso mangiare prima. Posso mangiare prima. Posso mangiare prima. I was trying to teach you the formal because you're kind of a really polite formal guy. But just say, grazie mille, ma posso mandare prima? Grazie mille. That part I'm getting on up on. Grazie mille, posso mandare prima. We'll send you a cut of this, Cody. You can study it on there. Grazie mille, ma posso mandare prima? Grazie. I love it. Send me a cut. I want to use it. Listen, when Rich is here, you're going to have a different conversation. I'm here for the vocabulary.

24:29Yeah, you're really, you get in there and you're bold and firm. Rich is like a lean back, sucker you in type. I know. Yeah, what charm, though. How long have you guys been married? So long. Yeah. 23 years. 23. Congratulations. Thanks. I'll take it. Listen, safe travels. Thank you. Go get them, Cody. Bon viaggio. And we really appreciate you being with us. Definitely. Thank you very much. I look forward to being here again. Thank you, guys. Take care, Cody. Thanks again. Bye. In a world in need of a hero, I think we have Cody Rhodes. One man rises to the challenge in style. He is just driving the kids to soccer practice.

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25:44The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

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