{"id":104028,"date":"2024-10-04T12:11:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T16:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/10\/04\/wwe-universal-champ-cody-rhodes-talks-metro-boomin-roman-reigns-redemption-john-cenas-final-wrestlemania-match\/"},"modified":"2024-10-04T12:11:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T16:11:51","slug":"wwe-universal-champ-cody-rhodes-talks-metro-boomin-roman-reigns-redemption-john-cenas-final-wrestlemania-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2024\/10\/04\/wwe-universal-champ-cody-rhodes-talks-metro-boomin-roman-reigns-redemption-john-cenas-final-wrestlemania-match\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE Universal Champ Cody Rhodes Talks Metro Boomin, Roman Reigns\u2019 Redemption & John Cena\u2019s Final WrestleMania\u00a0Match"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tLast year, WWE superstar Cody Rhodes was on the verge of \u201cfinishing the story,\u201d a phrase that captured the collective anticipation of the WWE universe. They were fervently hoping for the blonde protagonist to clinch the one belt that had always been out of reach for his bloodline \u2014 the WWE Universal Title. <\/p>\n

\n\tNow, 12 months later, Rhodes joins Billboard<\/em> on Zoom while proudly displaying a new addition to his collection. This shiny new toy, a symbol of his hard-earned victory against the once-indomitable Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 this past April, would undoubtedly bring a smile to the face of his late father, Dusty Rhodes.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen we spoke, I did not have the North Star of our business in terms of the WWE Championship,\u201d says Rhodes, referencing our 2023 conversation<\/a> about his documentary, American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes.<\/em> \u201cIt\u2019s a nice piece of hardware to bring around with me now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUndoubtedly the new face and quarterback of WWE, Rhodes is enjoying his champion run, including wins over AJ Styles, Logan Paul and Kevin Owens. Rhodes\u2019s popularity has also crossed over to the music side, where he spoke to Jay-Z last month at Michael Rubin\u2019s Fanatics Fest, shot a commercial with Metro Boomin for the WWE\u2019s upcoming premium life event Bad Blood<\/em>, and was a presenter this past week at this year\u2019s ACM Awards.<\/p>\n

\n\tBad Blood<\/em> will occur this Saturday (Oct. 5) at 6 PM EST on Peacock in Rhodes\u2019 home state of Georgia. His homecoming should be memorable, as he\u2019ll team up with his one-time adversary Roman Reigns in a tag-team match against Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. Billboard<\/em> spoke to Rhodes about working with Metro Boomin for their Bad Blood<\/em> commercial, WWE enjoying its golden era, chatting with Jay-Z and more.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou thought I was crazy for giving you the LeBron comparison when you returned to the WWE. You have to see the similarities now in terms of you winning your first belt and him winning the ring in Cleveland, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tWell, he came back home and he got it for the city. In terms of his story, you really had to hang in, you had to stay on-board. It took a detour in terms of him being away from his home. Then to come back and to fulfill that promise is incredibly special. <\/p>\n

\n\tFor me, I think a lot of people maybe looking outside of my journey in pro wrestling and sports entertainment this was how it was meant to be and this was how it was always gonna be. I look at this with the moment that we\u2019re in now and it\u2019s a gifted period. It\u2019s a chapter I did not truly expect. I had taken such a detour. I had been so away from my roots and my original goal in the industry that new goals had popped up. But to be able to drop back in, to go and get [the title] and to be one of the leaders in its most prolific era for a company that\u2019s really has had prolific eras, I\u2019m not taking this for granted. This is a very blessed time.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter 20 years, Bad Blood<\/em> is coming back to your state this Saturday. Talk about this full-circle moment for you in terms of coming home with the title in-hand.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tIt always feels Game of Thrones<\/em>-like in a sense. Here\u2019s the belt from formerly the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the Northeast Territory and I was just this Georgia Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, WCW kid. To be able to be the first Rhodes to have it, but also bring it back to where The Omni once stood. I mean, I got goosegumps when they put The Omni in the scene from [Smackdown\u2019s] Georgia Tech [episode] because being able to be on the ground of that building and to have this [belt], was not expected. It\u2019s a homecoming. I\u2019m very much looking forward to it.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of the Georgia Tech episode where you and Roman met up and cut an intense promo, that was high-level cinema on display.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\tI think wrestling fans, if they could be sitting in the stands at Bobby Dodd Stadium when it happened, they would have been so rewarded because the thing that is not being reported and by no means needs to be reported, is none of the verbiage was discussed \u2014 none of it. Maybe he thought I\u2019m going to make my point and I thought I was going to make mine as well, but to be able to have that moment and to say things to one another [was special]. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhen pro-wrestling is at its best, it\u2019s very real. That situation that we find ourselves in at WWE now with the individual who carried it through the pandemic and who held it for all those days as the perennial main-eventer now not being the quarterback of that company, that\u2019s a very real thing. Roman has my utmost respect. If anything, he pulled something out of me that I didn\u2019t know I had. I hope I did the same for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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