Cody Rhodes Says Winning WWE Championship The Second Time Felt More Like, ‘I Told You. I’m The Champ’

Cody Rhodes finishes his story for a second time at WWE SummerSlam, winning the WWE Championship from John Cena in a street fight.

Rhodes’ first championship victory came at WrestleMania XL, and he held the title for over a year before losing it to Cena at WrestleMania 41.

Speaking to Jimmy Traina on the SI Media podcast, Rhodes was asked about winning the title for a second time and how it felt compared to the first.

“I took a moment before the match and before John handed [the title] to me. I thought this memory would be way more present, but as I was under the stage, it hit me, and I’m shocked I didn’t remember this…that is the stage I went and hid under after my match got cut at WrestleMania 29. The same place I’m getting in the elevator to rise up and hopefully get number two, is where I sat in my feelings after getting my match cut, meaning my match was taken off the show minutes before it happened. When I realized that and I was coming up (the elevator), is where I really wanted to take stock of every feeling I had. The first time, WrestleMania 40, was a completely different feeling because I felt like I was capturing something that involved so many people. Of course , my dad [Dusty Rhodes], trying to finish his story. All the medley of characters that were involved in the big schmooze at the end. This one felt, selfishly, for me, in terms of, ‘See, I told you.’ Not in a mean-spirited way, but ‘I told you.’ I was the right guy for the job and I’ve been the right guy for the job,’ but nobody believes that when you’re another wrestler as much as you’re going to make somebody go through it, you put me through it. That feeling felt like ‘I’m the champ.’ The first time, I don’t remember thinking to myself, ‘I’m the champ.’ This time, I felt like, ‘I’m the champ,'” he said.

Asked why he didn’t feel like the champ the first time, Cody replied, “I don’t know, I think because of all the emotions and WrestleMania 40, everything that was going into it and the component of the Final Boss [The Rock]. I might have had too much of my vision on the road ahead if it happens. ‘Oh, what could be,’ versus this one where it felt like, ‘Yes, I wasn’t lying to you guys. I’ll keep doing this. If you want to move the goalposts, move them. If you want to tell me I’m not, tell me, but I’m going to do what I did tonight.'”

Elsewhere during the interview, Rhodes was asked about potentially turning heel ahead of SummerSlam. You can find his comments on the subject here.

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