Cody Rhodes on not being involved in the WrestleMania build, how he learned about Adam Cole and how Kevin Owens played a part in that, whether Brandi Rhodes will work in ROH

CBS Sports Local interview with Cody Rhodes
Host: Chuck Carroll
Full interview available at Sports.cbslocal.com

On being away from WWE during the build to WrestleMania: The Road to WrestleMania always gets people buzzing. And if they’d fallen off a little bit, they’ll come back around this time. But for me, I don’t feel any longing for it or feel any nostalgia over it. I just did WrestleKingdom in front of 40,000 in the Tokyo Dome. They tell you that it’s a lot like WrestleMania. I didn’t believe that until I actually got there and saw the scope of the production and size of the stage and the incredible matches. And the main event is a match that people are going to be talking about for years and years to come with Okada and Kenny Omega. So, it really hasn’t hit me yet. Maybe it’s because I was with WWE for so long. I’m doing only a few shows during WrestleMania week that happened to be in Orlando. I kind of don’t want to be around the WrestleMania experience, not because I don’t like it or [don’t] want to be around my friends, but because like [with] any job, 10 years is a long time be anywhere.

On how he first learned about Adam Cole through Kevin Owens: About two years ago, when Kevin Owens debuted in WWE, he and I became buddies. I started to look more into Kevin’s past in terms of where he came from and what he did in PWG and ROH. That’s when I got my first glimpse of Adam Cole. He was a guy that was no brainer. When I saw him, I judged a book by its cover, because this guy looks 100 percent like a WWE superstar. I wondered why or when [he would be signed]. What’s the story? I love that he loves the history and won multiple ROH championships. I love that he’s sharpening his toolsets at ROH. He could be the ROH champion for the next 10 years or go somewhere tomorrow. Adam Cole is a name you know. He and the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega are great examples of guys that did it without WWE. That doesn’t mean they won’t go to WWE at some point, but they don’t need to because of what they’ve done to make their name. That’s really impressive. It’s inspiring because I need WWE 100 percent. It’s inspiring. It’s what gave me the nudge to go out and do this without WWE.

Whether Brandi Rhodes will appear in Ring of Honor since she’s trained some at their dojo and has worked for TNA: I think there’s some really cool stuff going on now. Some streams [are] potentially being crossed in terms of Ring of Honor and TNA. I think it’s all baby steps at this point, but you’ve seen a couple of talents appear on both brands. I think with good intentions you might see that more. I hope she’s part of that. I know they’d love to have her, and I know she’d love to keep training at the dojo, so maybe that’s the tradeoff. Probably it’s going to happen at some point in the near future.