– Cody Rhodes recently spoke with CLATL.com to promote his WrestleMania 27 match with Rey Mysterio. Here are some highlights:
This WrestleMania is an odd homecoming for you and Mysterio, considering how much time he spent in Atlanta-based World Championship Wrestling before it was acquired by WWE.
I haven’t had the opportunity to say this much, but I’m only 25, so at the time that Rey Mysterio was in World Championship Wrestling having these marathon excellent matches with Dean Malenko, I was a kid sitting on the floor watching. There’s a time to be a fan and a time to be a professional, and I’ve tried to remain professional as we move forward. But if I sit back and think about it, regardless of any personal feelings I may have about it, it’s a real privilege to be in there with Rey Mysterio. He’s one of the staples of the WWE and a staple of WrestleMania.
Your father has aided you in your feud with Mysterio a little. Will he be in your corner at WrestleMania?
I hope that he will mentally be in my corner, but my dad likes the young talent to shine. It was really nice to have him in Sacramento when he came out on “SmackDown,” but he’s stayed out of things moving forward, and I think that’s the way he wants it. He might be in the front row, he might be backstage, but he will probably be there in spirit.
There’s sort of an underlying thing at WrestleMania this year that not a lot of people are talking about. You’re seeing a lot of veteran superstars, Rey Mysterio included, a lot of WWE greats, most of whom are going to be Hall of Famers themselves, against new talent. It’s a younger crop of talent when you look at the Miz vs. John Cena, Alberto Del Rio vs. Edge and myself vs. Rey Mysterio. So, [my dad] is respecting that night as well. It might be a changing of the guard at WrestleMania XXVII and that would be a really special thing.
You unmasked Rey recently on “SmackDown,” but didn’t expose his face to the audience. Do you plan on trying to do that again at WrestleMania for all to see?
Thank you for asking a question that has not been asked of me as I’ve done multiple interviews heading toward WrestleMania. I’m going on record and making a Muhammad Ali-style guarantee that, yeah, I am going to take his mask off at WrestleMania. I genuinely am going to remove his mask. I am making that known now. It is an unbreakable vow for me and I will follow through with that.
