Cody Rhodes On Who Brings The Best Out Of Him In ROH, His Huge 2018
As his Ring Of Honor contract expires at the end of the year, Cody Rhodes is poised for big things in 2019. In a recent interview on Busted Open Radio, Rhodes reflected on his accomplishments over the past year.
Rhodes has taken part in some of the best matches of the year in ROH. His feud with Jay Lethal was critically-acclaimed and culminated in a great performance at ROH: Final Battle. Rhodes pointed to Lethal as the best performer in the company and said it's impossible to have a bad match with him.
"I think Jay Lethal is absolutely one of the best wrestlers in the world. You know, backstage you hear about someone having a great match against Jay Lethal, you are not going to pat him on the back because if you can't have a great match against Jay Lethal you suck," Rhodes said. "You might as well hit the road. I have a good amount of chemistry with Jay Lethal, I really do, but everybody in ROH has been different chemistry if that makes sense."
Rhodes also took time to praise some young superstars that he had good matches with. He said he enjoyed working with Kenny King, but Matt Taven was a superstar who brought the best out of him during their rivalry.
"In Philly, a few months I had a very unique outing against Kenny King that surprised me," he said. "Over the past year, Matt Taven, who has worked really hard talking trash and being mean about me and The Young Bucks, but the truth is I like Matt Taven and I think he is good for professional wrestling and I think he one of those that have brought the best out of me because it's very adversarial with him, which is one of those real things in professional wrestling, but he's brought the best out of me. I know he likes to consider himself the real Ring of Honor World Champion, I know that distinction belongs to Jay Lethal, but Matt Taven is proving it more and more with each outing so I have always been impressed by him."
Rhodes said the past year has been all about hard work and he feels fortunate to have been able to do everything he's done. He feels independent wrestling has grown exponentially and he believes ROH and other promotions are becoming viable alternatives to WWE. He said he hopes to continue the growth in the variety of quality wrestling promotions next year.
"I have been very lucky to be in that spot. I have been very lucky. I think in 2018 our expression in the family is to do the work. Now, there is a difference between working hard and working smart and I think I have been at the right place, at the right time, and the right amount of work put in, it has been incredibly flattering, but this has been a groundswell that has long been brewing before I even joined The Bullet Club. It has been something that The Young Bucks have been cultivating. It has been something that Colt Cabana had been cultivating years and years ago," he said. "The year 2018 has been a huge indication for independent pro wrestling, and you can see now at the end of the year where WWE has been acquiring as many things as they can and blocking certain things out that they are preparing for something. WWE doesn't sell anything, so when they are preparing for something that I relish in because I grew up watching WCW, WWF, ECW, Smoky Mountain; I was watching everything, so I hope the fans can watch more than one company, or be proud of watching more than one company. I hope that there are more variety and more options like there has been in 2018, just bigger."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Busted Open Radio
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.