Booker T played a big part of the rise of Cody Rhodes in WWE.
During a recent appearance on “The Kurt Angle Show” podcast, the two-time WWE Hall of Fame legend and WWE NXT commentator spoke about the role he played in the quick ascension to the top of WWE for “The American Nightmare.”
“You know, I feel like I was a big part of Cody’s rise,” Booker said. “Like he owed me a check [laughs]. No, I saw something in Cody back then [working with him in 2011]. You know, when no one was really giving him a chance. I saw something in Cody Rhodes. That’s the only reason no one, no one came to me with that and said, ‘Hey, hey, look, you want to work?’ Cody did that. That’s the first time I’ve ever asked to work with someone. That’s the first time in my whole career that I’ve ever asked to get in the ring and not just work with someone but put them over. I said I would have put him over right in the middle. I’m looking at it. The lights. One, two, three. Because of his dad, I remember I was at one of the house shows, and I went out and I rocked it. Then I came back through the curtain and dusty go. They won’t put you on first. I was like, ‘Yeah, man.’ I loved Dusty, me, and Goldie, I mean, we don’t get too much tighter than Goldie, and Cody is the same way. Man. I just wanted to see that kid thrive because I saw his talent when he was with all those other guys. He just didn’t get to shine that Batista and Randy [Orton] and those guys got.”
He continued, “But I thought he was just as good of a talent and for him to be in the mix. But exactly for him to lead a company and go out there and rebuild himself and brand himself. And then the company said, hey, we want you back, we want you. We know we need you back under this umbrella. And for him to be doing what he’s doing now, he did that. He did that all on his own, man. So I give him major props for being a guy who grew up in this business but was willing to excuse me and go out there on that independent scene. And that’s a grind, dawg. That’s a grind. And I’m going to tell you, I was in a couple of independent shows and he would show up and he would always, I mean, everybody else looking like a bum. Cody would have that pseudo. His hair was well-coiffed. And I was like, well, you learned, you learned. Because Cody, every time he saw me, I was always dressed. I was always looking the part. And for Cody to pick that up and figure that out. I was pretty proud of that kid.”
Check out the complete interview via the YouTube player embedded below. H/T to WrestlingHeadlines.com for transcribing the above quotes.
