Six Feet Under - Cody Rhodes talks infamous WrestleMania Afterparty & Undertaker's Final Boss moment

28:04I think sometimes, you know, as a wrestler, I feel like many times we're telling a story, you think the world revolves around you in a sense. Like, they'll remember this. What if we did this callback? And then, yeah, old WWE is like, no one remembers what happened last week, you know, which is actually good advice because every time you go out there, you should try and remind them of who you are. But one of the things about John that I was so grateful for and definitely didn't think I would get the chance to do was I drove John pre bus the whole time. So I drove him around from when I got here and I was with Randy a little bit, but that's a wild ride.

28:39And as everyone knows, God bless. And then I was with John the most of the time, which was also a wild ride. But he was teaching without teaching. Right. Just, you know, he'd sit there and I'd hear him talk to Joe Hickey and get the numbers. And then in my mind, I'm thinking, all right, I got to talk to Joe Hickey. I didn't do any of this stuff until I came back. And he said something to me in a promo that came out of nowhere. He goes, you took the playbook and you did it wrong. And again, we're like having this contentious moment in a promo. But I thought like, he ain't lying on the took the playbook part.

29:10I took everything I saw him do. And I tried to apply it the moment I left here, which didn't take right away. But once I got in the infrastructure here, his general guideline for being a virtuous baby face or whatever, I thought, man. Virtuous. Right. And I thought, this is a good line to follow. So the fact that I got to stand across from him and I got him to see me, that was huge for me. I need you to see me. Great. I'm your little understudy and I wanted to be like you, all that. But now I need you to see me. and I thought he won't wrestling is far more real than people think he won't until we get it done until we have that SummerSlam match and I thought I'm glad I did not the first thing I think of is I didn't blow the stuff you taught, I didn't screw it up I'll screw it up but I didn't screw it up with you and that was just a huge honor to be a part of we were watching it backstage and do you remember we were sitting on the back side of Gorilla the back wall and it was you then it was me, Punk, and Brandy.

30:16And y 'all were deep into the match now. I mean, like, I don't know, like five attitude adjustments in. I don't know how many false finishes. Like, we were, like, you know, hook, line, sinker. Like, what is going on? And then Brandy turned. She goes, normally I ask him, like, is there anything you need to give me a heads up on or what's happening in the match? She goes, I didn't ask tonight. Now I'm really wishing I had. It's better that she didn't. Yeah, I think normally I was like, sometimes not. But at that very moment, I kid you not, do you not remember this? Mark stands up and proceeds to power walk.

30:45I'm talking like stomp, doesn't look our way, doesn't say I'll be back, nothing. Power walks through the curtain in Gorilla. And me, Punk, and Brandi almost at the same time were like, is he? Because he'd come out the year before at WrestleMania and not many people knew. I did know about that one, but we're like, is he? And I said, is he about to do a run-in? And she's like, I have no idea. And Punk's eyes are big. And we're like, I kid you. Probably four or five minutes, he comes back to the curtain. I'm like, where are you at? He's like, I had to go pee. there's a porta potty through the curtain and I'm like are you serious right now like we all thought you were about to do a run-in oh yeah I'm I'm a little older now when you get that call you don't know you got you like you don't know where when you're in gorilla like you don't know where the closest restrooms that so when you get to call but you went through the curtain and I didn't know like where the ramp was it was funny that's what you know what it was I bet the porta potty was on the other side before you go out so I had to hit that quick I mean because I didn't I didn't want to miss the finish.

31:41That's why I was in a hurry. I didn't want to miss the finish. You knew it was time. I can go now and get back to the finish. Yeah, but you can't be messing around. But all three of us were like. You get that bladder like that. It was great. Did you know about WrestleMania 40? Did you know? I knew. Okay. I did know. So we had a suite. That's kind of what we do now. We get the suite. We sit up there and watch the show, right? Except Kaya, and she was ringside, and I didn't tell her. I don't think you were the only one that I told and there's what 20 plus people in my suite and you were up there and I'm up there right and I finally said I gotta go so I get up and walk out I really don't acknowledge or say anything to anybody but I get up and then go down and we do the piece of business and everybody was like they were all pissed at me like I was supposed to let I wasn't going to ruin that for everybody.

32:37I can't believe you didn't tell us. I'm like, why would I tell you? That'd take all the fun out of what just happened. Yeah, so we thought you were just going to have us back again that night. But you didn't either. Big news. WWE and sports fans. The world's number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest, is making its return to New York City. Fanatics is bringing you closer to the leagues, teams, superstars, and athletes you love across four action-packed days in July. Meet your favorite WWE superstars. Get your hands on exclusive merch. Catch live podcasts and interact with the biggest names in sports.

33:20Tickets are on sale now. And fans of the podcast get a 10 % discount by using code TAKER10 at checkout. I got to go back. So we got to where we're at. I got to go back to WrestleMania 29, which I've heard from your end of it was kind of a, one of those days that happened that really let you know. Was this when I got cut and grilled? Yes. Okay. All right. Well, you got cut because me and Punk, we went longer than we should. I never blamed you guys though. There was a P. Diddy performance as well. Oh, Jesus. Let's blame him. We were blaming P. Diddy. Put it on the record. It was his fault. I felt horrible because I got to see you a little bit in passing of how disappointed and hurt that you were that you didn't go out.

34:19I remember you saying something to me about that, about seeing him. That was the point in your career where you'd come back and you were flat for however long after the match, but I remember you saying something like how, God, I feel bad. Like I saw Cody and he did. When he told us we were cut, when Vince said we were cut, everyone had a different reaction. We're talking about how you reacted money, right? My reaction was one of the worst reactions I think. I wanted to fight. I was so – because it wasn't – we were in gorilla. Yeah. And I kind of knew the – sometimes you're too smart for your own good.

34:51I kind of knew the general outline of the rest of the show. I'm thinking, really? This is a three-minute match with 90 seconds of walk. And I couldn't get off him. And there was somebody like, all right, we'll do it tomorrow on Raw. And there was like this false positivity. And I thought, well, obviously, I can't and won't fight him. I'm just going to go sit under the stage. And I was just in full gear sitting under that stage, which is MetLife, by the way. Right. Which is where we're talking about the John Cena match. Yeah. Oh, wild. Yeah, thank you. Full circle moment right there. Yeah. I very much needed that, though.

35:28Because, again, like that period of time, a couple of things. You and Punk had gone longer than whatever. The times were different then. They were very. But also, I'm pretty sure Total Divas was filming for the purposes that the match was always going to get cut. And I've asked Nikki about it. And I've asked, yeah, to this day, like, hey, did you know? And they all like, no. And I actually believe them in a sense that they didn't. Yeah. But I think, no, I think this might have always. A whole storyline for. exactly and as a wrestler and storyteller i would have liked to have known i would have gone about heads up yeah a whole different way um you don't learn this until later and you get more experience i suppose but i did learn that a lot of what i was mad about during that period a lot of it was fixable i just i think i needed to fully pull the band-aid i think I needed to, you know, you say burn the boats.

36:25I needed to do that to figure out all the things I wasn't doing. Because as time went on and, you know, working on our own alternative promotion and trying things, I realized how delusional the wrestler can be sometimes. But that doesn't take that sting away. Like when you finally get that little moment, it's like, oh. No, it never will. I mean, even to this day, that sets you in a place where you're still thinking about times and you're still and you know I guess it's a good thing in that matter but yeah no that was it was tough so 90 what was it 94 SummerSlam it's gonna be Undertaker versus Undertaker right oh yeah so the whole so I had taken some time off to heal up and and do some things but the whole summer was focused around trying to find the Undertaker yeah Leslie Yeah, of course.

37:22Yes. So, which was, he was a riot, by the way. He was incredible. So we get to, we finally get to DiBiase as the new Undertaker. And we go in, Chicago, go in and Brett and Owen worked before. In the cage? Yes. Right before, which was incredible. But they were right before us. and went over by like 15, 20 minutes. Okay. We had three minutes to pay off the whole summer. And it was one of those deals. It was just like. And you're locked in. Oh, I'm locked in. 94 times. Pay-per-view's cutting off if you guys screw this up. Yes, yeah. They padded. I think they had like a five-minute pad of, yeah, between our go home and going completely black.

38:19So yeah, we did that whole almost year buildup. We paid it off in three minutes. It's not a good feeling. My point to all that is it's not a good feeling. But man, I just remember the anger and the feel that I had because that was probably, yeah, I mean, I'd worked with Hogan and I'd beat Hogan already, but this was like one of the really first huge buildups in this whole process. And then to get ripped out from under. For what it's worth, we were really happy when we got three minutes. There you go. What? For what it's worth. I mean, when we got three minutes, it was like, are you serious? Are you ribbing us?

39:04They would tell you go home on the way out. They literally told us that, though. They told us that at a WrestleMania. Had a mixed tag. Was it the Snooki one? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, they told us, as soon as you get in the ring, go home. I'm like, I don't know how to do that. I'd like to, but I don't know how to do that. You got to remember, I'm like slightly adjacent to a lot of the lay cool stuff. Because at the time, I was dating Layla. And I remember WrestleMania in Atlanta, which is this match happens. I had the best night of my life. I wrestled with Rey Mysterio. It was the greatest night ever.

39:37But wrestling, you know how it goes. One up, one down. And then the next thing you know, I saw her like crying in the hallway. You know, just good old general public tears and thought, okay, what happened? Nothing. Yeah, no. Just, was Morrison in this match too? Morrison was, there was a whole lot going on. Yeah, there really was. There was a lot. So I have a bone to pick with you, and I don't know if I ever told you the story over this LeCoult run. Oh, no. And I also learned a really good lesson in this LeCoult run, which I share at the school all the time. But speaking of titles, so you guys saw the belt in half, correct?

40:12Okay. Okay, so I often brought the belt to TV because someone would forget the belt. I could see that. I often brought it. Oh, boy. It wasn't me. I would have it in my bag, and one title going through TSA is something, where it's a big chunk of metal. Another one that looks like a hatchet is a whole conversation, and then when they take it out and it's the women's world championships, well, they split it because there's two of them. Well, what are you doing with it? I don't know. and you get to the point where you're like I collect these I collect these right like the guys who come to the show and they have all the but I collect these but yeah that sorry no it's all good because I'm pretty sure that was someone else should have brought it but this other crazy moment I'm sure you remember this but we use this as a you know classic wrestling rules I still like a good old baby face never backs up and there's a moment do you remember when it's Mae Young is backing look I was scared of her I'm backing up you guys are kind of like chirping and I remember hearing her under her breath because she's just going for you this is a funny segment it's not meant to get to fisticuffs really and I remember her saying you bitches better back up she called us sluts too and I thought that's a baby face no matter the context it's two on one all that the baby face doesn't back up and I thought, what a lesson.

41:41Oh, and May chasing you? Like, she had just called us sluts and two little bitches and she has that look in her eyes and you know she's old school. Like, she... I'm like, I'm not getting within distance for her to catch me. That was the thing. It's classic. It's like, hey, if I make the tag, I make the tag. Yeah. Right? Stop me. You work all shooting around you, you know? Like, in the way you... I thought, I hope they know she's going to swing. Yes. And you guys did it just well enough. We literally went all the way to the railing until the twins were holding her back. We couldn't go any further.

42:12I'm like, oh, I was about to put Layla right in front of me. You couldn't go any further. I thought, this is so great. Still applying these rules to this day. I was happy. Those are two of my favorite moments. Lay Cool was fire. Thank you. Lay Cool was fire. You guys had so much heat. You know, like on a live event when music hits and it's like, ah. There were certain musics that hit through the night that almost keep a live event alive. All right, it's time for that. And when that stuff would hit, people just were so into it because you were so entertaining at taking away the thing they want.

42:45Like I remember like with Natty, like really built Natty up and then we'd like pull it away. It was just really unique. And I was again watching on the sides of all that. But gosh, like you guys, everything you were doing on TV was hitting. I appreciate it. It was like a run, you know, like everything was hitting. Well, it was during the time, too, where you had to make it hit and try to think like we had no storylines for the next week as far as creative went. We were constantly out there like, what can we do to make them go, you know, like, why'd they do that? Well, this is my question for you because I'm really curious about this.

43:16I always assumed the best thing you could do when you were in the women's division is just get over to where you really weren't in the women's division anymore, where you were just a star. And that's kind of what it felt like. And I had never an indictment on the women's division, but I tell people all the time. And when I was doing my little run in management, people would say, like, I want to bring the women's division up. And I'd always say, like, just bring yourself up. It'll help everybody. Just focus on you. I feel like from, and I could be totally wrong, but from your perspective, is that a job that you feel you needed to do is to bring the whole division up?

43:55Because I feel like it's different. You guys had such a limited real estate. And the camaraderie has really shown over the years in terms of how that divas area. like the Divas era was looked at and like how everyone's kind of stood up for one another. I just, I was curious if you felt it was your job because I never know what to say when it's a woman wrestler talking to me and I'm thinking, huh, I don't know the answer. Yeah, yeah. I think, I mean, during our time, we just had to prove ourselves so much to even be on the card at all. I mean, there was only going to be one women's match if there were any women's segments at all.

44:30And I think it wasn't so much, yeah, I wasn't pulling myself up as much as people want to think, you know, that's what it is. I was always under the understanding that it takes two to tango. Sure. And it's going to take all of us to make any type of impact whatsoever to be on, you know, any card, any given day. And so it was just, that was always my mindset. Like we have to work together. Like we have to. You and your opponent. Yeah. I think it's the most old school thing ever. And I love you saying it because now all the wrestlers who I've shared a program with or full angle or a storyline, the ones who really, I admired and got a lot from were the ones that were also looking out for me at all times.

45:09They'd hear about what you were doing that night adjacent to the angle. Oh, no, that's not working. And I thought, that's what this takes. Then you get linked to them and when you're done with them, you're like, wait, no. You get spoiled, right? You get spoiled real quick when you've got to start training a new person. No, no, he was good. That was easy, hang on. Yeah, it had to almost be incredibly frustrating because I got to see her work and struggle and fight for every little thing and writing for not only herself, but everybody. It was like, oh, man, just give them a chance, right? You're thinking to yourself.

45:57They eventually did. Eventually, you guys got a few more opportunities. Initially, y 'all were told at one point that you couldn't punch. Oh, yeah. Or kick. Punch or kick. You got reprimanded for having a match that was too good. We had to go out and redo it after we had already changed. That was you and Melina? Well, Melina and I got in trouble for our punches looking better than the guys, is what they said at the time. and Jericho stood up for us, but that's when our punches and kicks got taken away. It's crazy that this sounds made up, but I know it's not made up. I know, isn't that wild? The brief, I remember the brief period where the no punching, no headlocks, was just such a bizarre.

46:42And Fit would always just say, let it go for like two weeks, it'll be on to something new. And they always were. Fit was awesome. Yeah, Fit was like, I don't know how he handled all y 'all, but me neither. He did a really good job. Bless his heart. Fit seems like one of those individuals in wrestling that anytime you bring him up, everybody has so much respect. He went to bat for us time and time again. I used to like, I'd be listed on the sheet at live events, wrestling, maybe Matt Hardy or maybe wrestling. It could be a lot of things. It could be Jamie Noble. It could be Charlie Haas. Who knows?

47:14And then the next thing you know, it would just be Fitz music. Yeah. I think like, what? Okay, cool. And then I remember he'd always, he'd do the honors. He'd like put you over, but then he'd shillelagh you. Yeah. Oh, he's going to get hit. He's going to get hit. Yeah. And it was all about it. You'd see him over there in the corner. Oh, this is perfect. Boom, lay out. Yeah. What a tribute to the. That's such a great. We were doing, you know, I'm sure you get this all the time. I'm sure you get this. Nothing is worse than on an interview outside of wrestling, interviewing wrestlers, interviewing wrestlers, where somebody asks us to Mount Rushmore.

47:51So what I do with my Mount Rushmore is I say a different one every time. Perfect. And I'm waiting for somebody to go, wait. Didn't you just say? Didn't you? Yeah. But one of the Mount Rushmore's I started doing the other day, I said, here's a Mount Rushmore for the second chapter of their career, the third chapter of their career. What I mean by fit is still giving. That's his life's work. Hunter's still giving. Sean is still giving. You guys are still giving. Are you ready to hold WWE history in the palm of your hand? tops is bringing you closer to the action than ever before with wwe tops now highlighting the biggest matches and milestones from wwe shows and ple's throughout the year tops now is enhancing the fan experience by connecting collectors to superstars and spectacles that ignite their passion featuring stunning event exclusive photography each card is made for the moment And for some lucky collectors, the moment could be the pull of a lifetime.

48:53Along with serial numbered parallels, some Topps Now releases offer a chance at rare short prints, superstar autographs, and even pieces of the mat, gear, or other items used during the featured match. So which moments will you collect? With each card only available for a limited time, you won't want to wait to begin your Topps Now journey. Be sure to subscribe to WWE Topps Now mailing list on Topps.com and follow Topps on all social media platforms so you never miss a single moment. Man, we've covered some really cool topics. I was just sitting here thinking about something. Oh, no. I don't know.

49:41I'm nervous for you. I mean, this had to have been a highlight for your career, your young career. Oh, geez. I'm excited. Yeah. WrestleMania. No, it wasn't WrestleMania. Well, it was the after party. Oh, I know where you're going. Muscle. Muscle Mania. That was the best thing ever. That was one of the highlights of my career. Do tell. Okay. Well, let me set it up the best way. I know Santino in his book, I think, our Jericho's book, somebody highlighted that Europe tour, making fun of Santino for being out of shape, which people forget Santino was a shooter. A full-blown judo shooter who ended up being an absolutely stellar comedy, hilarious.

50:28I mean, show stealer. Amazing. So talented. But I got on him by getting out of shape. Then we're going back and forth. And then CNN JBL got a hold of it. Oh, no. And then it became, well, why don't you guys have this bodybuilding competition? At one point, it was like multiple aspects. There was going to be lifting, this and that. Like this path of least resistance, we're going to go bodybuilding. The whole time of this is going on, I'm not thinking I'm the heel. The whole time this is going on, I'm thinking this is a, we're really doing this. Like I'm not the only one who's noticed. I'm not thinking how bad I sound, how arrogant.

51:01And it wasn't until Sina made the t-shirts. Oh, yeah. Cena made the T-shirts, and it was the Mega Powers shirts. But I was savage. And I thought, ah, shit. I'm the bad guy? Okay, all right. But I also thought, I think everyone's going to forget about this. No way. Because WrestleMania, everyone's stressed out. And a lot of it, this was the hot topic for a whole Europe tour. And then three or four weeks go by, and no one's talking about it. I'm thinking, no way. However, I still put a Speedo on under my suit to wear to the Hall, not the Hall of Fame, the after party. The after party. Just in case.

51:43Just. But that even went weird, too, because the after party had been going long enough. It had been okay. Kid Rock was playing. It had been going. Kid Rock was there. No one's remembering this. And then John has a room over the side with Johnny Walker Blue going around. I'm thinking, oh, whoa, okay. This is cool. and then John Cone comes in the room. He's like, hey, they're calling you out there. Okay. I walk back into the ballroom and it's you who's on the microphone. Cody. And you didn't even see me. I walk through the crowd and you're just doing it. And so to walk people through what happened, Hunter and you PA a bodybuilding contest at the WrestleMania after party and I am in my Speedo.

52:34Santino's not even in the Speedo. He's in full posing trunks, like essentially a thong, like full glutes shown and everything. And you're calling the poses and making a little side commentary about the posing as we go. And my parents are there. Yes. This was great. You kicked Kid Rock off the stage. He was hot, didn't you? No, he got hot. He got hot. He got hot, I know. He did not want the naked muscle men on the stage. No, it was between, We ruined his vibe. Yes. He came. I won't say it's kind of politically incorrect what he told me, but he was hot. Yeah. And then not only, because I was kind of watching him walk out of the room and he's kind of throwing his arms up and he was so pissed.

53:18And then I'm like, oh, shit. Like, kid, he was going to sing. And then I turned and then the girl who was the singer for the band, now she's cutting a promo on me. I'm like, well, wait a minute. Why am I getting all the heat? Paul's the one that came and said, hey, we're going to do this thing. It might have been the Cody chants. It might have been the Cody. Well, I mean, I realized the opportunity to give the whole after party Kid Rock performance. And instead, you opted to give them an inside joke of a bodybuilding competition between, at the time, he was Santina. He won the Royal as Santina, yes.

53:58So I'm thinking, he's had a great night. I wasn't on WrestleMania. So when you're not on WrestleMania and you're at WrestleMania, you have to have your best attitude. Otherwise, you are going to pull your hair out, right? So we go on stage. We do the poses. I am booed every time. And I thought, like, I'm not in bad shape. But that's not what this is about. I figured that out. Then Hunter throws to, like, a talent portion. And Santino does this Russian, like, dance where you, like, drop down. He's, like, kicking his feet. Yeah, it's flawless. Yes, it was good. I did like a backflip off the stage, which wasn't flawless, but he did that again.

54:33I'm booed and I'm thinking, what the like, what is this? And I again, it's all coming to me and like I'm figuring out as as we go. Here's the part where I realize, oh, no, this might be the worst night of my life was. Linda McMahon is in the front row and Linda, I had all the respect in the world for. she wasn't at a lot of events and when she was you wanted to do your best Linda's there you see her in the front row like Linda's there and she is the only one who's kind of clapping for me and then she sees the room and all of a sudden she just goes like this and she hit a double she literally gave me like the double thumbs down and I like my stomach turned I thought like oh now you start thinking again The worst night of my life.

55:28And again, I did not win. It was announced that Santino won a giant trophy, which JBL commissioned, which had an ice skater on it, a football player on it, a basketball player. Every sport you could imagine. Every color you could imagine. And it was seven feet tall, this trophy, which clearly stayed in the green room. And it would be amazing if we could find out where it was today. That would be. But it is not a highlight of my career. Well, it was very entertaining. the only thing that was said to me that night that made any sense came from ray mysterio and he just said and i couldn't believe it because i was legit oh what a bad like oh i hate i hate this and i remember ray goes thanks for doing that for the boys and i thought oh man that's why you're a mysterio yeah now i'm gonna go kick my closet in my hotel room and break it and have to figure out how to tell John Cohn that I did it.

56:21Yeah. Oh, man. That was muscle mania. There are shirts. You want to know another rib about that? Everyone got a shirt. They're wearing them at TV, looking great. I asked for one from John. He gave me a triple X. Oh, man. That's messed up. True John fashion. I looked like I was wearing like a freaking pajamas as a kid, like a sleepover. It was so, yeah, muscle mania. And if you ask Santino about it, this is the crazy thing. Santino talks about it as if it was a rigid and strict bodybuilding competition to which he won. And I don't want to take that from him anymore. I mean, you can't. Yeah, you did.

56:56You won it, buddy. Yeah, fair and square. Yeah, you got it. But yeah, that was muscle mania. I love muscle mania. I main evented the one and only muscle mania. That's a lot, yeah. That's that. That after party. I mean, that right there is Hall of Fame worthy. That is Hall of Fame worthy. I really thought it wasn't. I think I was so shocked that you and Hunter were so into it. Well, I think Hunter was a little bit more into it than I was. Well, you got the party started, and then he took over with the posing. Yeah, once I christened it, he can be a little evil with himself. Yeah, but I mean like, yeah, muscle mania.

57:36Everyone has their opinions on it. I think there's some photos of it somewhere. You've got to find those. But you know, you're riding this incredible high right now. Every once in a while, you just need to keep, if you got to be brought down, you just got to go, man, I did a job for Santino Morella at Musclemania. Linda, man, double thumbs. Double thumbs down from Linda Mack. Double thumbs down. Not like one thumb. No, both. And then she was into it after that. She was like, yeah. Like booing everything. Like, come on. She was committed. Oh, man, that was a bummer. I don't think I ever want her back.

58:05That same night, like this is kind of, it is unrelated, but it was the same after party. I don't know if you know, but it was super special for my dad. My dad and your dad became pretty good friends. I was going to ask about that. Throughout the years, yeah. But it was that night that they started talking about Palaka and him wrestling in the armory because my dad was there. He has like a picture still of he and a friend and your dad in the middle with just a towel on in the locker room after one of the shows. Imagine that, yeah, right? Your dad, you guys, the family came to the only time we ever wrestled as a trio, as a six-man.

58:36Yeah. Me, Dustin, and Dream. The only time. Wherever the heck we were in Florida. Yeah, I don't remember either. But I mean, your dad was special to our entire family growing up. And then they just hit it off. And do you know that your dad was... He would send my dad ads. He wanted a donkey on his land really bad. I think I do remember this. Yeah, yeah, I do. So he would find these donkeys. And he's like, there was an ad for this one real... I don't know what was so special about this donkey. There was a special donkey. He was really putting it out there. He was really putting it out there. Like he wanted my dad to go to Bunnell, which is near where they live, and check it out.

59:08And so, you know, dad called and checked out this donkey. But then it got sold before your dad could buy it. So, you know, he couldn't just have another donkey. I wish my dad did not have room in Lutz for that donkey. Lutz. Where would it have been? I don't know. He said Lutz. I have no idea. But he didn't get the donkey because it was already sold and he wouldn't have another donkey. But through the years, he would, yeah, he would, they'd text it back and forth. He'd go down to FCW. They hung out. They had a special bond. They did. That match where we're in the six-man, there's such a unique dichotomy between.

59:42Because I always, I get really, I feel like I don't fit in the three a lot of times. Because Dustin's so uniquely one way and Dream so uniquely one way. But me and Dusty are on the corner and Dustin is in there. And he is hitting the ropes to where you can hear the corner ping. and he's hitting them so hard and there's only about 300 people and it only could hold 300 people. It was a nice, fun, that ain't what we're doing. And I remember looking at my dad and even my dad was like, what is he doing? Yeah, this is what he does. He doesn't have a, he's above 60 miles per hour at all times. And I thought, especially that run, he wanted to get his workout, his sweat, he wanted to paint off.

1:00:29It was a whole thing. But then my dad got in there and he circled with Trent Barretta for like nine rotations. And I could see Trent was just like, and then my dad just goes, lock up. And I thought, what is this match? This is what, the styles are so uniquely situated here. But yeah, that was the one time we were all ever in the ring together as a team and your dad was right there. He was in the front row. Yeah. Yeah. I never knew how they became buddies. Yeah. They started talking at that after party. I used to brag about your dad, though, because I felt like he had like a connection with you because of the connection with your dad.

1:01:07And I think he really liked that. Yeah. My dad was really authentically, if he picked somebody, that he'd start a company with your dad. You could. You know what I'm saying? They were going in on some land together. Something like. Some donkeys. Yeah, exactly. Donkeys. Because that, you know, that happened with Blackjack, right? Oh, no. So Blackjack and Dusty went in and bought all this land in Florida. I found out about it when I was older. and I thought, well, who's got it? Who'd the land go to? Who sold it? I talked to Bray and Bray's like, no, no, I think you have your half, I have mine. When are we getting it?

1:01:42Dusty passed away, no land. Blackjack, no land. We don't know to this day what they went in on this whole to get a tax credit on farming. Yeah, just financially irresponsible. But yeah, no. When he had his buddies, they'd go in on some things. You could tell. Yeah, he told him some great stories, but you could tell it was authentic. And they did. They just hung out. I got to go back to the land. So there's a big parcel of land in Florida that may be owned by the – It's either in the Wyndham Rotunda, the Mulligan, that fam, or it's on our side. If I know, knowing my dad, it was sold. He got rid of that.

1:02:24He got rid of it. He got rid of it. He took a loss on it, got rid of it. It's nonexistent now. because that's I mean he wanted to be we don't have we have very few left as far as the cowboys in the business and to me cowboy qualifications aren't you can't just wear the hat it's a matter of did you grow up around horses did you grow up in Texas there's these specific things were you on a farm no matter what it was there's specific things there's not that many like cowboys in a while There's not. There's not. I tried because when I was little, they wanted me to cowboy up. I'm from Georgia, and they're all from Texas, but they'd always make me a new leather belt and punch the hole, and I'd get new boots, and I'd wear spurs to church.

1:03:14They really were cowboying me up as a kid. Because there's nothing cuter. Right? A little cowboy. And I wore the Garth Brooks shirts in that era, like 90s, the button and all that. So anyways, I'm coming back. I think it was Saturday night's main event. I'm coming back after WrestleMania this year, and that's my return. And I wanted to wear a black cowboy hat. And I thought, I'll get a vote. I'm going to get a vote because I could wear a cowboy hat. I'm from Georgia. I'm a Rhodes. I could do it. Yeah. No? No. It didn't work. I went to the three guys I would go to for a vote. All three shut down.

1:03:46One of them, adamant, firm, almost insulting shut down. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So Bruce wasn't the hard shutdown, but it was a shutdown. Dang. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, being from Texas, you kind of, I want to see it, but I don't know. Looking back now, it would have been a risk. We had about 30 seconds to get to the ring, hit somebody with something, and say, we're wrestling at this point because this was NBC element. So, yeah, the hat never happened. That could have, yeah. Maybe one day. Yeah, brother. It's never too late. Yeah. Never too late. I mean, I'd love to see the snap shirt. I mean, you're quite the dresser.

1:04:22I mean. I do try. I mean, yeah. Who's your take on, man? What suits do you have? David Allen? No, it isn't David. I need to get a suit from David. It's a group in Roswell called Anthony Mason, and they do all the little logo on the sleeve, and your name's 55 different places. As you've seen, I'm trying something out. It's not a cowboy hat, but we're trying these suspenders out for the pod here. I like it. We're going to go off of your viewers and listeners if they hated it. I think they're both going to love it. We're good. We hate it, and it stays. Yeah, but Gruppen Roswell does them. And that was a big thing when I left.

1:04:58Another thing I wanted to – I stole that more from the McMahon side and the Flair side of things was if I'm going to be the WWE guy on these mom and pop indies, I'm going to look the part. If they're going to think, like, oh, he's the guy that's taking the most money and taking the most time and all, cool. I'm going to look the part. I'm going to look very much – I'm going to try and make – even, you know, you hear about gimmick tables. Like, I wouldn't do a gimmick table. And I saw that with a few others. I would, no, you can put mine in the ring. Or you can do pipe and drape, which is pretentious and all those things, but also presentation.

1:05:30No, it's presentation. That's all. I watched Sting do the same thing, and I'm thinking, this is presentation. And also, the most important thing to me is not the money in all this. The most important thing to me is meeting these fans who decided to come here and take a shot on me, and I'm telling them, hey, I was better than they thought, so I need to show that I am better. And the next thing you know, it just became kind of like you were talking about working the gimmick everywhere you went. After a while, it's no longer a gimmick. You just believe. You just believe. It worked. They believed.

1:06:01They still believe. Got to keep them believing. As much as we tell them not to believe, we still want them to believe. Here's my crazy thought. How do you guys feel about Unreal? The actual presentation and everything is wonderful. Right? From my aspect, in my end the business, I don't like it. And everybody's going to say, oh my god, it's an old school guy trying to protect kayfabe. Look, I don't care if it's 2025, it's 1990, or it's 1984. Everybody understands what wrestling is. 100%. Ain't no big veil been lifted except I don't want to go I don't want to go to I don't want to go to see a magician and know how he's doing everything to look at the ingredients there and I understand that there's a huge part that's interesting I want to do that but there's still that aspect because you tell me and I'll give you my perspective everybody knows what we do but when I'm in the ring my whole goal My motivation is to get one person, just one person, to think, wow, Undertaker just clocked him.

1:07:29I don't care what everybody else is doing. That right there, that was the real thing. So there's always the doubt. Yeah. Right? And again, I know the IWC and the kids out there, they're going to rip all that apart, and I don't really care. I love how you said IWC. Love it. This is from my daughter. That felt really cringe. It was cringe. No cap. Oh, my gosh. Yes, no cap. We just hit all the words with her. I'm going to make her watch this part. We just hit her with all the words in one sentence. Okay, that's everything that I know all in one sentence. Skibbity. Nailed it, yeah. Yeah, six, seven.

1:08:09Give me five up high in heaven. This is the most current podcast ever. Oh, my gosh. It's awful. This is just to pop myself. But anyway, that's my belief on it. I don't think we have to throw it in people's face. I think we've got too comfortable. I think we're too comfortable now in talking about our business. And I struggle on these podcasts too. Oh, yeah. Because it's hard to talk and tell stories without lifting it up a little bit. But I think we've gone too far. And again, I understand. Everyone knows what it is what we do. But there's got to be a little bit of mystery. One of the things you said that I wish more people would realize, and this is next to the point, but 1984, I think it was maybe 1987, I just watched a thing where Dusty is elbowing all of the four horsemen and the place is losing their mind.

1:09:08No one was losing their mind because they thought it was dead serious and they thought it was a shoot. they were connected to the characters i feel like there's this misunderstanding like no they thought it was all if you're watching a lot of flair a lot of dusty a lot of hogan a lot of the guys even if take it even back to freaking bruno and superstar that's just big and fantastical in front of you i don't think it was a suspension of disbelief that was selling the tickets i think it was a genuine like for that's my guy that's not my guy I hate that guy you know there was this this sense of it but here's the challenge I've been presented with and this is how I try to be positive about anything that's showing showing our cards is something that Sean told me a long time ago and I heard it from you as well is you just said it in terms of making one person think no that was so when i look at it i try to think what's the work under the work that's what i try to think because there's an opportunity now to tell them hey you guys do know everything but do you right and i think that's that's the thing that i'm like okay i can hang on to that because i say it all the time and we've said it once already wrestling is far more real than people think yes and now that the money is so crazy it's people are even crazier to keep that and that's the spots you know oh my gosh the amount of ego and then like just it's a beautiful thing in a way because there is a real competition that exists and then we do something very real yes that's understated how real oh yeah oh my gosh yeah to me that's why there's two reasons why whenever it's i don't think many people do this anymore but when people say fake i never even used the term the things i always tell them is what happens backstage is the most real campaign i've ever seen or been a part of and then also that dad and his son their emotions and their feelings not fake at all right they're having the best time or they're having the worst time exactly in terms of what what we're presenting them and to me that again like when i look at unreal what i think is what's the work under the work which now i'm exposing and i have to find Now you've got to find the work under the work under the work.

1:11:26But that really is a thing. Sure, guys, you're seeing it all. And to be fair, they've done a great job showing them all. But in the back of my wrestler brain is, uh-uh, I'm going to show them something they think is. Well, you'll have to. Now you have to think outside of the box. Yeah. I think that's the challenge. And there is that point now that now you have to be smarter than what the formula has been for all these decades, all these centuries of wrestling. Now you have to think outside of the box because I still think the smartest, the smartest people are the easiest ones to work. Oh yeah.

1:12:00Right. They care the most. They care the most. They're the most invested and they're, and they see things in a way that, okay, this is what I have to do. Right. And they are under the belief they know us personally. Yes. And I don't mind that. I, I think the wrestling fans are the greatest fans on earth. I think they're far more educated than we give them credit. it i think every connection i've ever made i could never take it for granted especially ever after waiting so long to connect with them but like they're they're also that part of it i almost lean into the idea that you think you know me and you think you know my opponent behind the scenes in a way sure yeah i i love the idea that's i hate using the word but the kayfabe is still very much real like well you know this and i mean y 'all got two of the most viral memes ever you when the streak was in and the guy's face you know like yeah and then you the girl crying the sweet little girl oh i mean obviously y 'all tugged at those heartstrings and and that's the feeling you want like even when we're watching wrestlemania's now like when steve's glass breaks i'm like a little kid yeah like you just you want to you know still have that without knowing everything behind the curtain yeah and i think to your point that even with unreal no one knows what we're doing but me my opponent and the referee and you know no one so as long as i can maintain that even though yeah you know and you heard some nobody really knows other than me my opponent and the referee so maybe we can you know find some magic it's definitely a challenge and it's outside the box you definitely have to think outside the box at this point which is good i mean it keeps you creative and keeps you trying to be living on the edge of what it is.

1:13:43I know I have a short time with you guys. I have to tell you guys both something as far as, you might already know this, but before we came on here and talked, you guys gave me a really nice gift. Really, really nice gift. You gave me this single barrel. It's from one barrel, signed JD, Jack Daniels, and it's got your Deadman ink. It's got a freaking... It's cool. It's got a tag on it. Got a tag on it. That's your... That was your barrel, sourced. I did not know that that gift was coming, and now there's an imbalance in gift. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. You set the table at 39 when you came back, and you gave me the bottle of Pappy's.

1:14:27I did give you a bottle of Pappy. That's true, yeah. Yeah, but it's... Now that's signed. It's a signed thing. It's everyone on the bus. Matt, right there. Bus driver extraordinary you're probably going to get into that a little bit we're going to get into that single barrel right it's pretty smooth yeah dogs gotta hunt dude oh uh all that's gonna happen i did bring something for this moment but we would i just need you to know right out of the gate it's not single barrel i i felt like coming on on your podcast and the it was never about drinking it was about being together that i felt was always your style and i feel like it's been wrongly labeled No, it was about being a group.

1:15:07It was about being a team. And, geez, WWE is a – this podcast unit is a team of all things. I don't know why I don't have mics and everyone else has mics. What are these mics? You don't need them, bro. These are props. These are props. They take away from everything. They're distraction. They're not – they are real, though, right? No, they're real, but they're props. Like, when I get nervous and I forget what I want to say or I lose what I want to say, I start messing with my mic just to give myself a few extra moments. Okay, now I got it. I got my thought back. How often are you losing your thoughts in these?

1:15:39All the time. Man, I might have the best question. What are you shaking your head for? I can see you peripherally shaking your head. Does it happen a lot? He's fired. Wow. Dang. I'm a little punchy sometimes, but I mean, I'm not bad shape for the shape I'm in. Well, back to the point in terms of you gave me this wonderful gift. I'm that thank you. It will go to use. It will not sit. I really, really appreciate it. I had brought just a bottle of number seven because when in front of the judge, you bring the number seven. There you go. That's it. But I think there's some glasses, right? Oh, there you go.

1:16:24Oh, no, you're in this. Oh, no. He always takes my shots. If he's the judge, where did you fall in this courtroom pantheon? I have never taken a shot in my life. What did you say? I don't know that you ever were in a court. Well, we were taken to court over Diva Dodgeball. That seems like a flesh wound there. I mean. Did I proceed over that? You were in there. But we only were able to go in. So many cases. See, he forgot. So many cases. Yeah, you did. But as the Divas, we were just there that week. We exited as soon as we pleaded our case. This is when you were on the diva search, and y 'all came in there, and you waxed.

1:17:04Yeah, we couldn't be in wrestler's court. We had not heard that right. Who all was the wrestlers that you... Oh, all of them. Trish, Lisa, Jazz, Gail. And you eliminated all of them playing dodgeball. All but one. Huh? I got all of them but one. Who'd you... I don't remember, but... And you went to court over this? Hmm? You went to court over this? Well, they went to court, but Paul called us in and had us talk trash. Well, I knew well enough, like, I'm not that dumb. I'm not going to really talk a lot of trash to these girls and all these people when I'm trying to get into this business. But some of those other girls were just, you know, saying the craziest stuff.

1:17:39And, I mean, I kept mine pretty clean. Like, you know, I left seventh graders, you know, playing out on the recess field to come. I think I was going to have a little bit of competition, but, you know, something to. Then we were kicked out. Dang. This is what I live with. Cold. No, that was nice. So I don't know what your final judgment was. In the courtroom setting, because when I heard he was the judge, I felt like I got so much more out of just the terminology of the judge. Like WrestleMania 40, I kept saying it and nobody was popping. And then the judge will show up. And I'm thinking it means something as far as he was balancing the scales of injustice.

1:18:21As crazy and as deep and as meta of a pull as that was, that's what I thought. but where in the courtroom are you a lead prosecutor at this point? I'm asking you, where do you fall? Because if he's the judge, where are you? Are you a judge? No, no, definitely not a judge. Well, you're also not the bailiff. I'm not the bailiff. I'm not really going to judge. I'm trying to find, I want to place you in this courtroom. I appreciate this. Yeah. I'm about to think about that. I don't know. I think you're a lead, DA. You might be the DA. I could be a DA. Yeah. I can go to DA. Yeah. Whoa. Oh, you heard it here.

1:18:55get the shovels out. Wow. What does DA mean? District attorney. She's like that. I was about to say divorce attorney. Oh, oh, oh, oh, man, there we go. To the, wow. Okay. To the judge? To the judge. Cheers. And to the district attorney. And to the executioner over there. Oh, there you go. Oh, there you go. Oh, little goggle. A goggle? Just so he knows I did it. We covered it. I didn't think you would bring whiskey and then throw it over your shoulder. Never. Which is also sometimes the problem. When you got the, we were saying that ones who love it and want it, it's like, oh, man. Yeah, I didn't want to disrespect anybody, you know?

1:19:36And then you ended up disrespecting yourself, you know? What a mess. But, yeah. Oh, I love it. Well, man, hey, we really appreciate you making time. Thank you. I know you're busy and, you know, you're doing this whole carry the company thing. Doing it well. Thanks for slumming with us. Yeah. You really made me feel inadequate as a podcaster. What are you talking about? This was so much more fun than part one. No, are you kidding me? Part one was fun, but yeah, this is it right here. Well, this is like, this is... You got a tandem set up, you know? You're uptown, and we're on the other side of the tracks.

1:20:10We're low rent. We're low rent. We're Stefan. Huh? Where's Stefan in this part? Oh, she's up there. Up, uptown. She's up in Greenwich. Yeah. She's to Greenwich. And Logan's part of it too, right? Is Logan part of it? Oh, dang. Who's that? Yeah. Oh, now. There it is. Get the shovels out, yeah. Old LP. Logan Paul, has he been on here? You've been on his. Yeah, I helped him with some ratings once or something. Dang, and you're just an outsider. No, he was popping off. He was popping out. It was actually funny. No, it was actually pretty witty. Yeah. Because we just started the YouTube channel. Yeah.

1:20:42And he's like tired of all these outsiders becoming YouTubers. I popped on it. It was a pretty good. Oh, my gosh. It was a pretty good. When he did that first promo about outsiders, that was funny. You both would very much, I hate to put him over, but she liked being in the room with him. Oh, he's freaking out about it, huh? Yeah, I feel like a room full of people sometimes who maybe take it for granted, or he could be check-to-check type people, and he's just got a thing. And also, you know, you hear this all the time, he really doesn't have a reason. Yeah, you don't have to do it. You have to have a certain amount of passion.

1:21:13You don't have to do this, and just a good energy there. I think he's on the moving up. So I hope fans kind of get with it. Well, he's got the it. I mean, he's got the it factor. Yeah. Especially in this day. If you can make somebody. I don't think he even has to try. But when people dislike you to that extent. It's like we were talking about Leigh Cool. What a gift to have heat. Yeah. Or just make them boo. What a gift. That is a gift. And also, you know, it ain't going to last long these days. They boo long enough. They start. that's pretty cool that's my guy right there alright no no yeah no no please boo oh yeah yeah oh man anyway we really appreciate you and thanks for the gift that's my kind of gift right there true story you can come back anytime thank you so much no I couldn't I couldn't come without it thank you thank you thank you this was fun and congratulations oh yeah oh yeah yeah number two dad girl yeah girl dad girl dad times two it's a whole thing crazy I feel like I so don't know what I'm supposed to be doing right and Liberty's four so you're getting into like K-pop demon hunters and a lot of like stuff that's going on with like the young girls but man she's just really smart too which was always a fear like of mine because I think very much that's coming from Brandy's side like very much very smart so I don't have much time like I gotta make my point because by the time she's in like fifth, sixth grade, I'm out.

1:22:46I'm not able to follow. Oh, it was about fourth grade for us. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. Into the current. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, she's really smart. She messes with me like she has like the math now. And the way people can figure out math problems is different now from there's a whole new system. Sure. And math was not my strongest subject. Yeah. And so she'll have stuff and she'll say, hey, Dad, can you help me with this? Yeah. And I can hear the sarcasm in her voice as she's asking me. Or like Latin, she'll go, can you quiz me on my Latin? Oh, yeah. Because, I mean, you know. Yeah, they have to take Latin in her school.

1:23:26That's bold, though. That's Latin. Like, you know, it's a dead language, you know? Yeah. But she does it just to entertain herself because she knows that I'm going to butcher it. Well, I mean, I butcher the English language. I was about to say, or she'll be like, oh, man. You can only imagine what I'm going to do to Latin. Yeah, it's bad. I have noticed that I'm a buddy. I'm a buddy. You know, like Brandy's mom and everything. Mama, mama. But I'm just like the buddy. I dropped the hammer. Oh, please. This is such a lie. This is a Cody lie. This is a Taker lie.

1:23:59I rule with an iron fist. He even knows when she says daddy. She's getting whatever she wants. She's 13. She just turned 13. And she can still go, daddy? He's like, oh, what do you want? You called me daddy? And he still gives it to her. That's amazing. Well, I do the same thing when you call me daddy. Oh, good Lord. And we're out. Thank you, Cody, for coming. There it is. Where'd we go? What happened there? Mommy? Mamacita. I had a great time here with mommy and daddy. Wait a minute. Oh, you called me daddy today. Oh, my God. All right, let's shut this down. We got to again. Thank you.

1:24:43We'll be right back.