This is Austin Theory and you're listening to the baby Faces podcast only on iHeartRadio. Mit w Superstar right the waller and you are listening to the baby Faces on iHeart Radio. What's going on y'all is WWE Superstar Kobe Kingston and you'll listen into the baby Faces on iHeartRadio. Bab do you hear that music? That means we are back with a special Monday episode. We have probably our biggest story yet defending WWE Undisputed Champion the American Nightmare Cody Rhoades. Cody,
what's going on, man? How you doing? I uh, I'm good. I feel like what give me another really big star that came on the show. Oh, we've had your friends like Al Snow on the show. Aaron, Yeah, Yeah, that's that's our guy word from here in Kentucky, Ohio Valley Wrestling. Hearing the idol Stevens on your old tag partner and even the guy that played your father on a Young Rock, Daniel Hill. He's a guy we had on before too. So that's a lot of a deep cut that is. Give a shout out. I like, Al's are
you such a unique individual? I mean you guys know that owl's unique. Al knows he's unique. I am one of the few people that try and bang the drum from my time forty four hundred Shepherdsville Road, Louisville, Kentucky, OVW. I try and bang the drum that Al trained me, I mean really trained me from scratch. My dad had hip tossed me and body
slammed me. That was it. And then he walked back into his office at the training school he had when I was fifteen year old, and I refereed, and I learned a little from the refereeing, but even the refereeing, he'd have me do old school. Just count three, just count for real. And Al was the first guy to speak to me on the level of psychology, and I always appreciated. AL would tell me, hey, I did this once in my career and it was a bad choice and it
led me down this path. Don't when you get in that spot, make the right choice. And I've had a few of those moments even recently, where I'm thinking, like, man, dude was right, kind of a magneto was right? When it comes down snow, like right, right, yeah, right? What would Al do? Right? Right? We've also had some of your your friends on SmackDown on as of late Austin Theory last week, Jake Cargill on SmackDown, I'm going to be making its return here
to Louisville on June seventh. Of course, we've been promoting that shows as it's coming up here, so you know a little bit of a homecoming for you, right, Like, how cool is it when when you do get to come back to Louisville to your to your roots of wrestling with OBW and all that. Oh, it's it's one of those at the plane ride, in the drive everything. It's just kind of every mile there's a memory. Because my experience in Louisville and I lived a little out the out skirts Hillview,
Kentucky. Yeah, my experience was legitimately the most college experience I would get. It was so much fun and the wrestling that that was the most fun part about it. Because I'd find other people who liked wrestling. We'd watch WW twenty four to seven on demand. This is before the network, before Peacock. You'd pay seven ninety nine and then the same people would be
like, Hey, we're going to the gym at eight am. And they taught me how to work out and to be there when seam Punk was on top, and you know, coming out to Afi and the crowd losing their minds for him and just seeing like, oh, I want to I like, I like what he's doing. He's this is a good, good representative of what we do. But yeah, just just it's every mile of memory. And and I mean, like my twenty first birthday, Fourth Street Live
miss missed through me this big party. I'll tell you something this. I mean, I'm not embarrassed about it now, but I was pretty embarrassed about it then. Uh twenty one, you know, so this is the kind of the you know, that's the first time you're drinking and uh, and I just had too much. You know, It's my twenty first birthday. And I remember mis was like, I got your back, don't worry, just going the go in the restroom, get settled. I got your back.
What he meant was he kept the door open while I vomited violently in front of the entire Fourth Street I think was Sully's was the name of the bar at the time. Oh yeah, and uh and yeah, that was my twenty first birthday. But it was a great It was a great night. Miss threw me a wonderful party. I will for all forever be grateful for it. Well, dude, that's awesome, and you're returning as champion. And I've even heard you say before last time you guys came here was
obviously for the Uh the Bray Wyatt and the Terry funk Uh Memorial. And he even said after the show you had you didn't have a college experience. You had a Louisville experience. And I remember even going back to the OBEW days, back when I tell Billy this all the time, your rivalry with Deuce and Domino, with Sean sp some of the best stuff that I've ever seen. And now you're on top of the world, just off of two
fresh WrestleManias and you finally finish your story at this last WrestleMania. So kind of talk a little bit about that was it? Was it everything that you hoped to be the two years in the making and coming back you're finally crowned the champion. You finally get the WWE champion in the road's name. What was that like? That moment for you in Philadelphia? You have your life's work kind of come together in a matter of three seconds, even though it
takes years and years. And there's a promise I made when I was eight years old. But I was surrounded by just such wonderful people, and WrestleMania forty, I think, is just going to age like wine in a sense of what we all did that night, And it was very prominent that here this most successful period that ww has ever had. It's not just one person, you know. I know mister Haymond would like to give Roman all the credit. I get it, but it's not just one person. And that
that's what was seen in that that match. And I'm so glad I got caught up before your question. You mentioned Sean Spears. Yes, so Sean Spears during the deuced Domino Cherry. During this rivalry, I had no fundamental experience, like I couldn't tell you like a top ristlock from a double quarter like I couldn't I had no fundamentals. Wow, But they didn't mind because they were teaching me from the stories perspective first. That's how I would like
to teach. And Sean was there to lead me through it. And he does not get enough credit from me for how special he is. He is the only person that I regret I didn't have in the ring after WrestleMania, because I saw him that day and we just took a picture together and he was just like he always was. He knew what this day was, he knew it was big and the opportunity to go and I could take it all if I wanted to. And gosh, dude, I wouldn't be where I'm
at without without Sean Spears. He is he has a blessing of the business, and I'm so glad to see him in NXT. Absolutely, I mean, one of the best WrestleMania made events of all time, Cody. We were there in person for it. It was emotional. It was just chilling, and especially the moment where the gong hits the Undertaker comes out from the ashes to take out the Rock. What did that feel like for you in that moment, just hearing that pop and the crowd just become on glued.
I got a little kind of secret about that spot that I had never actually shared. So here's the first time some breaking news. When the blackout happens on TV, it's completely dark when the blackout apps in the arena, your eyes are adjusted to where you actually can see kind of what's going on in the ring, and so the gong hits the place loses their mind. But I'm I'm Roman has leveled me prior to this, So I'm just kind of laying there, almost dead to right, you know, like hanging on trying
to catch my breath. But I saw out of the corner of my eye the Undertaker roll in the ring at a speed that was like a ricochet would roll in the ring, a Chad Gable would roll in the ring like a speed that if anyone's wondering, oh, I wonder if it's still there. Oh my gosh. It was like a lion. Legit, like watching a lion who'd been sleeping on the you know, on the rock all day and
then he just went out and did it. But when he choke slams the rock, I got to make eye contact with him, ever so briefly, and I think he maybe wanted to have a moment. Maybe not. I could be overestimating my importance to the Undertaker here, but he winked at me. He winked at me, and then the lights went out and it was like legitimate magic had just happened, Like this guy, actually, no, you know what all the times he struck people with lightning, all the times
he did it. It's literally just as he gave me in Nice the lights went out and I couldn't believe it, and it's to me one of the most special things ever. He's told this story before. I didn't sleep the night after WrestleMania. I left him a rambling, good four minute voice memo about just what that night meant to me. And him showing up to be part of my crew was unbelievable. Yes, and like as Billy said, one of the most memorable WrestleMania moments all the legends coming in and culminating an
amazing story was it was really personal. I got personal at times off the thirty nine and then coming back to forty it was really awesome to see. So we're definitely proud of you here in Louisville, dude, and just I guess go ahead and wrap it up, dude. Like we said June seventh, KFC Young Center Friday Night SmackDown, it's not the Davis Arena, it's
a little bit bigger. So you know you've been you've been in You've been in arenas like that, So what can the fans expect when the American Nightmare makes his return as ww UN disputed champion, and when Friday Night SmackDown is a back in the city. That's me and Billy's birthday weekend, so we're excited to be there Birthday weekend. Well, right, there's the Davis Arena where the people would stomp their feet on the floor and it would sound like
it was thousands. There's been Freedom Hall, which to this day is the loudest reception I've ever heard when John Cena ran into the ring and the entire building was shaking, not unlike it did for aj Styles and Leon France, a legitimate shaking of the building. I expect the same energy, uh. When it comes to the Young Ciner, I expect the exact same energy because, like I said, it's not a college experience, it was a Louisville
experience. There was something I found out that no one in my family had ever found out about that place on Earth and Louisville's importance, and just the fact that I get to go back and come back you know with the deal is U is the yeah there there she is is UH is the greatest gift ever and I look forward to seeing a lot of faces who were there for all those other shows in the past and should be a great night. Well. He is the American Nightmare. Cody Rhads. We are the Baby Faces
Podcast. Cody. We'll see you here soon in the bill Man. Thank you guys so much. Hey everybody, this is the American Nightmare Cody Roads, ww Champion and you are listening to the Babyfaces on iHeartRadio.