Ricky Saints

Hi, I'm the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes. We are on my home away from home, my tour bus, and this is What Do You Want to Talk About, brought to you by the great folks at Wheatley American Vodka, which by the way, this is the classic Wheatley American Mule right here. I'm enjoying my guest today. It's the first time ever, first time we've had anybody from NXT on What Do You Want to Talk About. He is a classic WPA, Workplace Proximity Associate. Some would say we're even friends. I have known him quite some time and we have had a mini-adventure and I am so proud of him, insanely proud of him, almost emotional in sense of his accomplishments, what he's done and what he is yet to do. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to What Do You Want to Talk About, Ricky Saints. You know you've never done the pose, but I'm gonna get you to do it one day. I don't, it's not my pose to do. No, it's just your pose. Do it one time. Give it, give it, give it right here. Jesus, can you feel that? Is that a bit too much? That's you, you know, I'm the final boss. I can feel that. Wow, so we got you on the pod, you're familiar with the bus? I'm so familiar with the bus. You're familiar with drinking on the bus. You're not, I was kidding there. Hey, speaking of, your drink here brought to us by Wheatley American Vodka, what do you have, what's it called, what's in it? I just want you to admire the gradient of that. Look at that. This is the Saints Redemption. Yes, there's a drink. Saints Redemption, we're doggy. You love that. What we have in here is obviously Wheatley Vodka, the best vodka. They are. We got lemon juice. We got two dashes of bitter. Two. Very dashing. Two, two. We got honey syrup. We got lemon juice and you see that right there at the bottom? That's grapefruit juice. Oh wow. Yeah. What do we call this color that's going on? I feel like I'm going to miss. I call it sunset. Ah, sunset. I was going to say something that's incorrect. I think ombre. No, you're actually right. Am I? Yes, it is. There is one female on the bus. I'd prefer we ask them just for confirmation. Kristen. The head. Yeah. Good job. Good job. To that. Yeah, cheers man. That's a good one. Well, that's it. That's the pod. There we go. Well done. Glad to have you on here. So how are you doing? How are you feeling? I feel great now. I feel I'm in such a better place. It's like a night and day feeling. Obviously there's a lot of stuff I want to continue to get and work towards. I don't really know what it feels like to be content. But right now I actually am pretty... You're feeling good. Yeah, I feel really good. Well, you're not complacent. You're not content. But there is a goodness. There's a good stopping point, so to speak. I think we've brought it up before Andy from the office. The quote, hey, I wish somebody would tell you when you're in the good times. When you're in the good times. We're very much here in the good times. Yeah, I agree. For sure. It's a lot of time coming. One thing I want to bring up right out of the gate. This is a WWE production. This is Wheatley American Body. This is a real production. There are three cameras here. This is a... You got elite players on this bus. Elite. And when asked for a hotel, you decided you were just going to stay at my house because that's all you brought your bag. Yes, I did. Okay. I'm trying to save money. I'm showing my place. That won't be a thing for too much longer. Yeah. Definitely got to pay like you would. What did Uncle Arn say? What did Uncle Arn say? He actually told me, well, the full story is a little different and I think it's appropriate now to give the full story. The quote everyone knows from Arn Anderson is, spend it now, make more. The actual situation came from I was dating a young lady. I had purchased her a car. It's very important you know, 80. Oh, yes. Car purchase. You tell me something you do when you're married. And Arn said to me, he said, you know, kid, you've had more divorce. You've had more divorces and you've never been married. The most guys I know. And then he could tell I was not in the mood as I watched my car drive away because she kept the car. Of course. And that's where he said, hey, spend it now, make more later. And he was 100% right. So it's terrible advice. Gosh, dang, bad advice. But what are we doing? You gave me that advice and I take it to heart every time I spend it. Yeah, I gave you that advice and then you showed up in the custom suit that costs more. This is a custom suit. Right? See the deals here? There it is. Nightmare, this is the school, my name somewhere. Yeah, there it is. Cody Rhodes, all this is a custom suit. It wasn't, it was a third, a third of the cost of what you wore on my bus yesterday. And then you were mad that we had a lack of response when you came on and did like a spin. A, it's the day of WrestleMania. Yes. It's a stressful day. See, everyone dresses like a astronaut, Lady Gaga, ridiculous, it's a wrestling, it's show business. Sure. Everyone's in. So when you need people to do the, hey, my daughter's walking down the steps for prom, big put over, you need to let us know in advance. Because I didn't even look twice at you and you kept going, hey, you seen my outfit? Hey, did you see that? It was great. That's overblown. That's not what happened. I walked on the bus and I said, oh, there you are. How's it? Big day for you. I was very supportive. I looked very good. I had a nice suit on. Yeah, I didn't have a dress shirt on. Who cares? I don't know how to, I don't care about that. Figuring it out. Yeah. You look great. I don't know how to tie a tie. I could teach you how to tie a tie. That'd be nice. That'd be a nice moment. But I'm not a tie guy. I'm about to bring in full circle. You want a little wrestling story? Yeah. I have been tying ties my whole life. But do you know who actually taught me how to tie a tie when they realized that my version of a knot wasn't really acceptable? Really wind or not? You know who taught me? Smackdown general manager. Nick Aldous. Oh. Not Teddy Long. I thought you were going to Teddy Long. You went to Teddy Long. Yeah, that's why I went. No, I was tying a tie, like a single knot, just throwing it in there, a kind of haphazard, you know, young businessman like, you know, wind, swept, dashing, all that stuff. But he was the one who actually said, hey, you're going to be in some big rooms here. Let me show you. Because he's British. Because he's British and formal and handsome and big-shouldered. Yeah, he's like a real man. That's a man right there. That's a man. I've known him since NWA days and he's always been a man. Tell me about the NWA days. A wild time actually. Yeah. A wild time. Only because, do you know the story of how I got signed at NWA? No. I used to make these vignettes. I used to pay for these out of pocket. And I wasn't over on the Indies, obviously. And just to be free with you. I was on an Indie with you. Yeah, I was curtain jerking. And so I would make these vignettes. And it was just basically like a lookbook of my character. No real direction. No nothing. But it was so interesting aesthetically. And so Aldous had saw this on Twitter because I posted on there. And he saw it, invited me to the NWA 70 show. I saw you. Drop the title. Yes. I had the 10 pounds of gold. You were in and out. I said, all right, see you. Yeah. And that's how. So I did that stint for them. And then after that, that's when they offered me this deal that they're going to start to empower for YouTube. And I was like, oh, sick. My first contract. This is going to be great. Sign me to this thing. And then halfway through, I said, nice. OK. Thank you, guys. See you, Stout. Why is that? I just, there was a ceiling. I felt like there was a ceiling for me. And I was so right because right before I declined resigning with them, the pandemic hit. And so during the pandemic, I was making my way just due to, I was selling shirts online. I was designing my own merch and selling it. And then from that money, I made another vignette that you put over. You had replied to it. And I was like, wow, old social media. Yes. When you're, you know, when you're actually replying to people. Yeah. Now it's just a machine. Yeah. It's just, it's just an AI robot, probably. No. I mean, it's a man. No, I'm not, I'm not saying he's, OK, listen, now you're putting me in a situation where I'm putting down someone's work. I feel like I've noticed a pattern here and I didn't, I'd never noticed it before, but maybe a little bit afraid of commitment. Who? I don't know, Rick. Oh, give me a break. What's going on? No, it's not a commitment issue. I can see it. I predicted. What about the, you're single? Yeah. Single, always. We'll take it. Hey, look right there, camera one. Tell them, tell them what they're missing. If y'all are familiar with an episode of shot of Brandy on YouTube where I also said that I was single, I would like to reinforce the fact three years later I'm still single. OK. But way more particular, you know. So you got more. Yeah. Way more, there's a lot of boxes you got to check. What's the number one box they got to check? Wow, damn. Number one. Number one. That's a hard one. Actually it's not. It's, you just have to be understanding. Be an understanding individual. Understanding. Yeah. If my girlfriend isn't understanding, then she has to leave. Cheers. That's your understanding. My only box to check is, and it's the same box to check when it comes to the word I don't like and you know this because we've known each other on a personal level. You know I do not like the word friend. Yeah, I know. Because you don't make many in the business and the moment you think you have one. Establishing the back. Right. Yeah. So my thought is the one box to check in any relationship is the car is going to run out of gas at some point. Or are you going to get out of this car and push it with me? Right? In this case it's a bus. Oh yeah. Are you going to get out and push this thing with me? That's my one box to check. You think I would? I mean you've bordered on WPA, Workplace Proximate Associate and Friend for how long? Since 2012 when I saw you in the bathroom and Loretta was back down. You should probably elaborate on that. Yeah, you know, I'll just say it. What did I say to you? Was it an extra that you should put me in the bathroom where the writers were? It's not always a place to dress. The actual town space. Absolutely. Hey, I'm not mad at it. Yeah. Now I can be. But I had a match against gender and before I went out I was like, oh you're a little nervous on it. You're like brushing your teeth, you're jacking it on. This is before the mustache and everything. You're brushing your teeth. I said, yeah, I'm just a little nervous. Me sitting on this pissy ass bathroom floor changing and you're just, you know, getting ready. Yeah. I said, yeah, it's a tape show. If you mess up, just do it again. I said, thanks. That's not good advice. It was perfect advice because I went out there and said, yeah, we can go wrong. It was just retape it. I feel like you've told me the story before. I've never asked how that match was. My God. Well, I remember coming back and this whole side of my face was bruised up. Oh gosh. I love gender. He's awesome, but he was young too. Heavy handed. Yes, very. Also too, that was a, you know, I'm a big believer and you know this. We butted heads. Literally. I mean, we butted heads. I'm a big believer in you. The old school Steve Austin, how they hit the ropes. Yeah. I like somebody swinging in there. I wasn't right. Yeah. I don't, I don't want some, we're not dancing. It's saying a dance. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Let's, let's get down to it. The headbutt was memorable too. Yeah. Well, that was honestly, uh, we're more than able to talk about it here, but the open challenge is so funny because when we started it, there was a whole, whole preface conversation before we even called you or the others where, Hey, it's not about hiring anybody because right now upstart company, I don't know what this budget is. COVID just happened too. COVID just, it's not about hiring anybody. It's just about the opportunity and the freshness. Here's something you never see elsewhere. Right. Bringing people in for doing, you know, promos in their backyard or in your case, a high res vignette that you had paid for. I don't know the, I know the legend of the story, but you at the time said that it was an opportunity. And again, I didn't buzz you for the purposes of this. I thought you would be great for the open challenge and were, but, but what was going on in your life at that time? Oh my God. I had just quit NWA. Hmm. COVID had just happened. No one knows this, but I did a stupid thing for Sammy's vlog where I went through a flaming table and I wore pleather pants and it was a mop and broom tag match versus me and Sammy because prior to that, I did a match with just as a broom. Anyways, so Sammy went to piggyback off of that, went through a flaming table with pleather pants on, caught on fire, literally saw my whole life flash before my eyes. I thought I was about to die. Yeah. And then I had second degree burns on my leg. Maybe three weeks later, I get a call saying, Hey, we want to bring you in for this open challenge thing. I said, Oh man. Thank God by the time I went out there, it was already healed up or, you know, getting there. And I remember when I was flying there, I said, I'm not going to get signed, but I will use this when I, when the Indies open back up to raise my rate and be like, Hey, I was on TV. You got to pay for that. And then I think that night I remember getting to the after our match, I get to the back and you were yelling. I was out there. I was back there first. You yell. He said, That was, that was good piece of business. I was a good piece of business. I said, All right. Okay. And you walk past me and then we go in the office and you say, Good job. I don't know if you remember, but before we went out, you, you laugh too. But I said, Yeah, this is going to be a match of the year. I do remember. Anyway. Yeah. Okay. And I was looking in the mirror and said, Really? I said, Yeah, obviously match of the year is easy. Go out there, collide heads. I go, maybe not, maybe not Ricky. Maybe, maybe it's a good match of the month. And that was it. The match aired. And then all of a sudden I get a text message with a contract offer and I said, Wow, sick by myself and my apartment. Good moment. It was a great moment. My Twitter blew up and I just sat there crying. My Twitter blew up. I don't, I don't like men who cry. Yeah. You know, it's crying. It's life. They, you guys, she hates it. She hates it. She hates it. She runs the channel. Type of emotion from a man. I don't get it. Yeah. I don't understand it. I think it's great. You evolve people. You're doubling emotional. Great. Well, you know, it's tricky. It's complicated. I was the least emotional person ever. And then there's the floodgates open at a certain point in my life where everything, I watched the trailer for Lilo and Stitch, wet face, destroyed based on a trailer about an alien who acts as a dog for a young sister, a crazy situation. But anyways, I'm glad you were crying. I'm glad it was a, yeah, I'm glad it was a good moment. I imagine an even better moment. And I mean, no disrespect to anywhere else, but any better moment. Who called you when it came to NXT? Hunter. Triple H? Yeah. King of King? Triple H called me. Yeah. And I had just got off a flight. And my gosh, a lot of nicknames. Just got off a flight to Seattle, actually. And he called me and I was like, oh, I kind of know the number. And it didn't say Stanford or anything. So I was like, who is this? I always answer it. Even if it's unknown, I always answer it. That's bold. I know. That's bold. I never answer my phone. I like an adventure. If it's spam, let's get into it, baby. Okay, okay. Cool. Yeah, sure. All right. Saints Redemption, dog. Exactly. That's why I'm here. What if I chug that? I don't need to chug it, but I will give you a little top off. Yeah. Go ahead. Tell me the call. So Hunter calls me. I'm getting off this flight in Seattle. And I can barely hear him because the airport's so loud. And he asked me, hey, would you want to come in and we're interested, blah, blah, blah. We would love to have you. You're talented. X, Y, and Z. And I was like, oh, yeah, sure. Hell yeah. And right as I'm getting on the tram, he says something about like, it was like raw or smackdown. And I was like, wait, what? What did you say? And I was so scared to say, hey, can you repeat yourself? Because I know how it feels. That I said, yeah, yeah, for sure. Basically what he was saying was, hey, we're not going to put your own raw smackdown just yet, but it could have been anything. Yeah. I didn't know. I was like, okay, sweet. But he wanted me to meet Sean. And so that was like a big thing. And I was like, of course I will. Like yes, I would love that. That's all I really wanted is just resources. I feel like I'm a rough diamond that just needs a little polishing. Well, who better to polish a rough diamond than the Heartbreak Kitchen? Than Sean, yeah. Right? And did you guys connect on a Texas level? No, not at all. So I've noticed there's people who live in Texas. The imports, there's people who are like, all these people are now moving to Austin and all this. But then there are people who are Texan. Yeah, he's straight Texan. He used to Texan. My dad was a Texan. There's a whole another, it's not even a language. It's just the way they look at each other and talk about things and the heat and everything. It's a, there's a whole another classification that goes on amongst Texans. And I actually admire it. I think it's cool. But you told me you're from Austin and not New Orleans because you like to play in the home town. No, I'm fine. You do this a lot. You say that's three home towns. I do. Brother, get ready, comp tickets. Oh, my family's here. Where are we at? Here's the deal. Cody doesn't like the fact that I say I have three home towns because I'm over in three places. Wow. Yeah. I know. It sucks. Yeah. You have more than me, but it's okay. Obviously love, New Orleans, born and raised. Then I moved to Vegas because of Katrina. And then I moved to Austin because my mom, you know, this is a better opportunity for nursing jobs. Yeah. Three places. Your mom's your number one. My mom's my number one. I realized you met her. You thought it was funny. Thought she was great. Thought I was the boss the whole place. I know. It was a really awkward, funny moment. It was awesome because she really didn't meet the boss. Yeah. How's she feel about what you're doing now? She loves it. She, before I went, I had a phone call with her where she says, yeah, you're going to be gone more. Do you know that? And she was telling me everything that was going to happen about this job. Then I was like, oh, okay. The truth of it all is that, and I told her this too, I've been so close to the fire for a good portion of my life that I'm kind of just, you know, my skin is a little bit more thickened than someone who is just jumping into it. And so when I explained that to her, she was like, okay, I said, I kind of have an idea. I'm not saying I know how it works, but I'm a little bit more familiar with it than someone who is, you know, just jumping into this from nothing. Well, when you're right there, you're right there and you're at the edge and you're at the edge and you're at the edge. I think everything you learn enough that when it's time to fly, you fly differently. Right. That's a good point. I had an interaction in the ring with Sina and I thought, had this been five years ago, had this been 10 years ago for sure, I would have handled this very differently. But it was one of the few moments where it's like the meme where you see all the numbers. All the calculus. Yeah. And I thought, I know exactly. I'm good. I'm good with this. I'm going to play this play and then it was effective. And I thought, that's you only learn that unfortunately by not being the one picked or failing when you are the one picked, whatever it may be. Yeah. That's a big feeling. Are you ready to hold WWE history in the palm of your hand? Tops is bringing you closer to the action than ever before with WWE Tops now, highlighting the biggest matches and milestones from WWE shows and PLEs throughout the year. Tops now is enhancing the fan experience by connecting collectors to the superstars and spectacles that ignite their passion. Featuring stunning event exclusive photography, each card is made for the moment. And for some lucky collectors, that moment could become the pull of a lifetime. Along with serial numbered parallels, some tops now releases offer a chance at rare short prints, superstar autographs, and even pieces of the mat, gear, or other items used during the featured match. So which moment will you collect? With each card only available for a limited time, you won't want to wait to begin your tops now journey. Be sure to subscribe to WWE Tops Now mailing list on tops.com and follow tops on all social media platforms so you never miss a single moment. Who trained you, Ricky? There's a guy in Austin, his name is George Delies. He used to be called Mr. Mexico number two. Not number one. Why didn't you want to get number one? I couldn't find him. He went into hiding. But his claim to fame, because he used to wrestle in the California area in Portland, was that he worked with Roddy Alight. So he was always an underguide to Roddy. Roddy Piper. Yes, shout out. That's him. That was his thing. He was like, yeah, I used to work with Roddy Piper all the time. A great guy learned the basics of wrestling through him. Funny thing is that I debuted in October of 2011. WWE calls me in January of 2012. At the time I worked at Microsoft because they were doing these stores. I didn't know this. Yes. Okay. I worked at Microsoft and I remember telling, because I had an employee that hated me and I did not like her in return. My thing, but a side note, if you don't like me, I don't like you either. Yeah. As you know, we're always going to have to. I've seen it. Yes. I've seen it. Anyways, they call me, Cone calls me and brings me in and I literally tell this girl, hey, I'm about to get signed to WWE. See you by. I don't need this anymore. See you. And I left. I left. I didn't come back after my break. Unfortunately, I went and did the extra work with gender. That's when I met you and I had to go back to work and I had to really tell them, I was having a rough day. Did you go back to Microsoft? Yes, I did. I showed up. I showed up on time. I said, Hey guys, that wasn't me. Just was a lot going on for me. My dog died. Didn't have a dog at the time. So you lied. I definitely lied to save my own ass. Absolutely. I will always lie to save my own ass. There's a fib there, Rick. That's fine. If it's a good lie, who cares? Well, it got you back to work. It got me back in because immediately they put me here on the floor and had to sell these Xboxes. But I've been in the system since 2012. So I would say that I learned the basics from my trainer, but I didn't really learn wrestling until I would come backstage and constantly be in the stands watching how people would win over stuff or I would just eavesdrop on conversations. Just being there by osmosis type thing. Wrestling is not, I always tell my students at the nightmare factory, wrestling is not always wrestling. And right now we're in an era where athleticism is everywhere. Everyone can do so many things. Then you also find a talent for self promotion, for editing, for putting their own, for social media. You find a lot of this. And I feel like until you're around Michael Hayes, Paul Heyman, a triple H, Sean Michaels, until you're around people like The Undertaker, for example. You're around them and you understand that those are all great components. And there's this sales element to what we do in pro wrestling and sports entertainment. I recently just kind of uncovered this myself. I've never liked the idea of being a salesman. I've never liked the idea of selling a ticket or selling a product. But I do realize that often what wrestling sells is hope. Hope that your guy or girl gets up off the mat and does something cool. Hope that their day, which has maybe been terrible, can be forgotten about for two to three to four hours while they do this. And the idea of selling hope is something that you're not going to learn when you're going over hip tosses. And today I'm even less, when you do it at the, again, I'm by no means a good trainer, but I'll tell you this. If you do a hip toss and it's not an F, I don't need you to do it again. Yeah. I don't, I need you to get on a microphone and tell me who you are and what you're going to do for us and what you're going to do for yourself. I need, that's a whole other thing. But again, that first trainer is always, do you find that years later, here you are, you're talking to a guy like Sean Michaels, you're at NXT amongst an unbelievable group that's down there, unbelievable group. And you won't be there forever. And I feel like part of you, and this is speculation. I think you know me by now. No, I feel like you have a bit of an edge, a bit of a chip that, hey, even when we said an NXT superstar, an NXT wrestler, to you, you're thinking, hey, I'm the roster. I'll tell you what, this is advice from one workplace proximity associate to another. Enjoy your time and enjoy it because it changes dramatically when it's a traveling show. And I don't want to say main roster, but it changes dramatically. And a lot of the fun that you're having, and I can see the fun you're having, it's a different type of fun. Yeah. Also, your crew down there, whether you like them or not, Trick Williams, for example, even though he's super odd in interviews and never puts me over, but I'll put him over. Trick Williams. Oba. Oba's a good dude. Oba's phenomenal, Trick's phenomenal. Ethan Page, who I love, that might be one of my few friends in the business, Ethan Page. And then you look at the women's division in NXT, murder's row of talent. So enjoy this time where it's a little less pressure, just a little, just a little, because at a certain point, I mean, Rhea Ripley's experienced this now, Becky Lynch's experienced this, Seth Rollins experienced this. The biggest thing we do, the pressure's on you. That becomes your show. You're the one who's supposed to deliver. And again, at this point, you're so close to the fire, you're so close to the fire, you're so close to the fire. When you're in there, you're expected to dance. The last thing you can do at this point is be kicked out of the fire. You won't get back in, right? Which is not going to happen to you. You're going to, I've seen you dance. I love that Garth Reference. That is a Garth Reference, but yeah. From one of my favorite albums. Yeah, that is. But you know, enjoy it is all. And that's the other thing I've been trying to do is also check myself, because while I have this part of me that is constantly, nope, I'm not struggling for this. This is, it's not a knock to anyone at NXT, by the way. But when someone says, NXT, no, I'm, call me a WWE superstar. That's what I am. That is what I am. I don't care for this other stuff. But I am also enjoying it too. And it's so fascinating to see people who aren't from the realm of wrestling from the indies and seeing how they operate and asking them questions. And there's people who come up to me now for questions. And I'm just like. So one of the biggest shocks ever was when I asked, I wanted to, I wanted to send a nice message. Yeah, be honest with this. To the NXT roster. Be honest. Out of Las Vegas. I wanted to send a nice message to the weekend. We're on the line here, guys. Don't do anything stupid. Don't get any trouble. If you party, please party after the show. Or away from the street. I said you represent WWE. And I tried to say it as nice as possible. Yeah. I asked who are the locker room leaders? The answer I got from more than one person, one of them was you. And I was. Okay, yes. I wasn't like shocked in a funny way. I thought like. Okay, yeah, that works. Okay, I'll tell him to not go to the, you know, but yeah, that was that was. And then someone also re- I was proud. It was it was double reinforced for me. I was very proud. Ethan Page obviously was on my list. Hey, I learned from me. Tell me something you don't like about Ethan Page. We're putting him over way too much. What do you not like about him? I don't like the weird Jeffrey Dahmer glasses he wears. The just the glasses glasses. Yeah, they're too. I don't like that. That's that's who has those. Nobody, nobody. You don't like the glass. Much. Okay, so you don't like his glasses. Yeah, I don't like his glasses. I understand people have stigmatisms. I'm a person who does. What's my rule in the group chat when we say something. You have to say something nice. We could. We could bury someone for days. But you have to say one nice thing at least. One nice thing. It's fun to like go in on the boys and that's cool. But also give me a nice thing. Say something good about that. I'd like to make an amendment to that type of rule though. Okay. I never hear you say something nice first. It's a I don't. I don't like gang warfare. I don't like when it's all we all go in on one person who tweeted something dumb or something. I don't I think you should always start. You want a sandwich then you want a little. We start positive then we eat them alive then we end on a good note. You should always end on a good note. Right. I learned so much from you every day. Feel like that might be a real thing. I think it is actually. And I've gotten better with it. Because I would just I'll roast a person to they are just crisp. It's just my in my nature. What. So this is a question because of this bus travels all over the place. Matt does a great job keeping the bus. It keeps you safe. Keeps it safe. It drives the bus. It drives the bus very fast when I'm asleep. Very fast. I love that. But he's always kept me safe. He's the top driver. When you go to like all the places you're from the Austin and New Orleans. You're your town. Your hometowns. Are you a foodie. Absolutely. OK. Except in Vegas. I don't care to eat. Well it's it's too much of a melting pot. And yes when it like New Orleans what's a real authentic. You know what people are going to get if they're coming in and they're from out of town right. Yeah. Something that you would recommend to somebody coming in New Orleans. You're their tour guide. So weird. Yeah. But it is a place called We Never Close. And it is a po-boy shop. Po-boy. Po-boy shops there in New Orleans are so good because they will overfill your po-boy with shrimp. Yeah. A lot of places will skimp on you. But these places like maybe go ahead baby go ahead. Put all the shrimp on there. The thing is we never close is always attached to a gas station. So it's kind of off putting at first when you go up. But if you go in there it's clean. It's nice. You know what to order. Walk the wild side a little bit. Always. Yeah. It's in the real neighborhoods away from the tourist spots. And I always get a call it Naked Po-boy. That is shrimpily. That's shrimpily. You like that? Shrimpily. Damn. That's good. Yeah. It's shrimpily. Shrimpily. Just shrimp. Yeah. And ketchup for me and pickles. Oh my god. That sounds terrible Rick. It was going good. It was shrimp and ketchup. That's my order. No it is. It is. That's yours. I thought I mean I traditionally we thought we were going to hit like a bignet thing. Do you have a bignet you like? Honestly. I do like bignets. I do like bignets. You can go to Cap-vay-de-Dumont and get bignets. Yeah. The best time to get bignets is at like 2 a.m. OK. No, the French Quarter. Because. When a dog is out there hunting. Yeah. Oh. Oh. I got lead in the pencil. Just know what it is. Oh my god. Let's take it. Ha ha ha. OK. Ha ha ha. 2 a.m. 2 a.m. You probably had a few libations. You know. Libations. It works however you said it though. It's with a B, huh? Yeah. Libations. Cool. You go there, get a bignet, get some coffee at the same time. All right. And then just go back to your hotel drunkly. I can tell a great deal about a person based on their coffee order. Oh, you by the hate me then. Hit it. Give us your coffee order. It's just cold brew. That's not. Why would I hate cold brew? I mean, did you like it? It's a little basic. It's a relatively modern thing. It's a little contemporary. It's not so much basic. What were you getting before cold brews were a thing? I mean, I was getting. I was pouring just coffee into a cup and drinking it. And probably like, what's wrong with you? Probably black, man. I don't know how to put stuff in it. Some of the smartest people I know. No one's ever taught me how to. Here's the thing. And I don't know if you picked up on this. A lot of things I do, no one's ever taught me the right way. Yeah. So I kind of lean on you, of all people, to like, hey, I don't know what I'm doing. I didn't have that in my life. Yeah. My story in my personal life and in wrestling is so interesting to me because I am just winging it. I'm literally just doing stuff. And then I hear a story about like, this guy took him under this wing and blah, blah, blah. And he's off on, you know, better terms. Our mutual friend that we kind of like, but we don't like. And he's kind of psychotic, you know, player A, or whatever you call it on. Sure. That's a guy where I was like, wow, I could have benefited if I was in his position way early on. Are you talking about Max? Yeah. No, that's a work. I had a really great mentor in multiple. Randy Ordon, shockingly, John Cena. Right. All these guys, once I came up in 2007, 2008, took me under their wing in the way you're talking about. I am shy to do so. I could get that. And the reason is because, and you already know this, when I was off in the wilderness and started my own deal with a burn, the team that I had, and they were wonderful teammates and helped me create it, I made everybody my BFF. I made everybody my number one. And when I came up on the stage, WrestleMania 38, I was warmly received by, you know, 80-something thousand people, and that was a wonderful feeling. But I can tell you none of those people, I want to just flat out say none, but you could probably count on one hand, messaged me. Yeah. And I thought, that's a lesson. There's a lesson. And it's not that I wanted anything from it. But that's why I'm trepidatious to jump in the water and say, hey kid, you're with me. Also, you're older than me, I think. This isn't a sinners thing. I'm not like aged like a vampire. No, I feel like you're, aren't you older? Cause I met you. You met me when I was 38. How old? Um, you met me when I was 30. Maybe I am older than you. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Let's talk numbers. Traditional in-person therapy can cost anywhere from 100 to $250 per session, which adds up fast. With BetterHelp online therapy, you can save on average up to 50% per session. With BetterHelp, you pay a flat fee for weekly sessions, saving you big on cost and on time. Therapy should feel accessible, not like a luxury. With online therapy, you get quality care at a price that makes sense and can help you with anything from anxiety to everyday stress. Your mental health is worth it. And now it's within reach. With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, having served over 5 million globally. It's convenient too. You can join a session with a click of a button, helping you fit therapy into your busy life plus switch therapists at any time. Your wellbeing is worth it. Visit betterhelp.com slash Cody to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash Cody. Again, growing up in your various hometowns and things of that nature, but something that we have talked about before and I thought was a good place to talk about it here more. Perfect. Perfect. Thank you, Wheatley. Move. That's Wheatley American vodka. Yeah, I know what you're saying. It's smooth. God bless the USA, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, I really love the USA. So, there you are, sir. Saints Redemption. Anyways, something we've talked about before, it would be great to talk about it here on the podcast because I love your insight. I love your outlook on it. Growing up was your racial identity. Was this a source of issues for you in school? Were you bullied? And what did you do if you were? And ultimately, what was the road that you would travel? And how would you navigate those situations with racial identity? Well, in New Orleans, there's a lot of fair skin people that look like this that are black and it's just based off of the Creole history. So, I went to a predominantly all black school in New Orleans East. And so, even then, I was a lot lighter than I am now. And so, I was constantly always, I'm not gonna say picked on because I did my fair share of causing that stuff. By the way, I was just talking my shit. But I had a lot of issues because I was always in fights, always in some type of issue because of people just thought I was white. This was all black school. So, even if I did something that they didn't like, it was just a, it was always a race thing. So, I was always into a fight. Like, every week, it was something that my mom had to take off work and come handle. It really was me defending myself. And then there's times that I instigated it, where I would talk some mess and have them chase me and then it ended up in this big, blown fight. So, I went through that for a good, I don't know, like from kindergarten up to, I wanna say like ninth grade, really. And it was an issue because when I was younger, I had a very bad temper. And I think you've seen it before where I go zero to 100 really quick. And that's the emotional side of it. And I had to figure out how to use that for good. But in school, I had to really hone in and be like, okay, is this a worth the situation to fight over? Is my pride hurt or is it on principle? And those are two questions I would always ask myself. And I really got over that by having to accept not only myself as like who I am and how I look. And this is, at the end of the day, I know who I am. And I can't change that perception of somebody else. But I also will not let someone just walk all over me if I feel that there's a lot of disrespect coming. So when it came to schooling, I was always in the counselor's office and I had to work through that. I had to work through how to figure out letting just stuff slide. Like just letting it really roll up your back. And I wasn't the best at it for sure. I was lashing out at everybody. But I did come to a point where I was confident enough to let certain situations just keep it moving. Yeah. And I think that's why too, like with Lib, I've told Brandy this where I'm like, I, whatever situation she's gonna have to experience, I've already lived it. I already know how it's gonna be. From my experience, it sucks to grow up to feel like you're not on one side or the other. I don't think people realize that, because the other people in my family are a little bit more darker than me. And you see my mom, she's light. But it sucks because I go through life where I don't feel like I really fit in anywhere. And so when I don't fit on the black side, that sucks. And then when I don't fit on the white side, that sucks too. So then you're kind of like in an island by yourself. And then when you get older, you're supposed to be like very confident and blah, blah, blah, and you don't feel like anyone understands you. That right there does feel like, oh, well, yeah. The anger has to go somewhere, you know? So it was a lot to try to deal with, especially growing up there when they should be more accepting, but do you still feel like you don't fit? Yeah, I do. And I'm gonna explain why. There's a lot of times where someone tells me that I'm too emotional or that... Is that me? Or it's not that. It's like when I'm around certain people, I see how they react. Certain people aren't as in tune with their emotion. And so in turn, it makes me feel like, well, damn, like I always thought this was like this superpower that I had and blah, blah, blah. And then I feel weird when I express and communicate this doesn't make me feel good. This is why I'm pissed off. Like, you know what I'm saying? It puts me in a weird place. But as an adult, I do feel like I'm not very well understood. I think sometimes people misinterpret my passion. They misinterpret the way that I say things or even sometimes I react, right? And they misinterpret in such a way where it wasn't even close to what I was intending. So that does leave me feeling by myself. And I think that I am so loyal to people when I do feel understood. When I do feel like, hey, this isn't what he's saying. And so when I feel that I stick to those people, not everybody has access to me. But the people that I do allow that, I feel more of a kindred. I am seen, I'm heard, and I'm understood. And those honestly are the only three things that I ever really wanted. Seen, heard, understood. Yeah, that's it. I got you, Doug. Yeah, you do. I got you. You've found the right place. Obviously, pro wrestling is often tons of broken toys. There are tons of people thinking maybe they've been misheard, but NXT particularly, since the days of Dusty being there, that's really where people have gone to thrive and polish during that period of when they're able to look out and say, I'm not alone. It's a different sense of not fitting in, but I'm not alone in this. And then you're swimming with all of them. And that's why, again, I say have fun. It's not really the best way, but I think you're gonna remember the class of people you're in with right now for a long time. I think about my developmental experience and all those guys. I'm not gonna lie, this is probably an overshare, but I think Miz figured it out. I still will every now and then get drunk and just text them and tell them how good a wrestler they are. Stupid stuff. That's like, I'll be not realized, I'm just sitting here. You know, I remember one night I texted Kofi. I don't know where, just because I was so proud and so happy and so just I got to be in the company with Kofi again and all this. That stuff means a lot though. For me too, just to have it randomly when you text me, like, hey, I'm part of you. You don't understand. That's a bot. Oh, that's a text. That's that monthly subscription. That's the subscribe. Stop, stop, stop. God bless, God bless. I love it. I did one of those before too, so no shame. Yeah, remember, I definitely remember that. And I was on the other line sometimes, every now and then, texting. I'm not knocking, I love it. We'll move away from that. I wonder too, this is so weird. But they always talk about Dusty at NXT. And I always wonder, I don't blame you. I always wonder like, man, had Dusty met me if I would, oh, you'd be better off. Right, right. Yeah, you got the shit deal, dude. You met me. You met me. So Dusty had stroke, he had magic, he had an ability that I don't have. I often have to, I did it this morning, I did an appearance for one of our partners. And I'm meek, and I'm mild, and I'm quiet, and I'm saying thank you, and hello, and everyone's going, that's the wrestler we're bringing? That's the, who is this? And then when I go out on stage, I have to deliver something that makes them go, oh, okay. That's different, but yeah. Okay, again, one of the reasons for the suits was this whole let me try and provide people a different set of expectations for a wrestler, but he had that skill, and when he had that skill, he'd bring his people into it, and that was something I felt like he was the biggest champion of certain people, like Becky and Bailey, you'll hear them go on about it. He was their champion when it came to meeting time, when it came to let's write these reports. So sorry, you got stuck with me, and. I mean, that's good. And let me ask you, that's a really great question. Here you are, not, this is when we were hiding you, and we weren't even hiding you, you asked for permission, but you're sitting in the box at WrestleMania 40, and finishing the story happens, and you've got a famous clip of you freaking out online, which I've made into. Hey, Kev. Yeah, high five and freaking out. I always worry, there are people on this bus right now that I worry about it. When you attach your trailer to this wagon, when you get on this train with me, whether I'm leading the train or you're leading the train, sometimes it's not beneficial. Sometimes it causes people a little bit of just old school heat. Have you felt any heat being someone that was connected to me prior to going to NXT? I think Rico. Yeah, that's what your name. Loves Cody. Enough to not worry about that. I will never let somebody weaponize a friendship against me. Geez. And that comes back to my loyalty that I have. This is the thing. Like, I don't have a big family. I don't have a lot of friends, so to speak. The people that have shown me being seen, being heard, being understood, I don't think you really understand the grasp of that that is in my reality, where a random text message, it means the world to me, and it's not only an emotional thing. It is a pure, I have such an endearing and deep love for you as a person because of what you have shown and reciprocated back. So when I did that, I didn't give a f***. I'll be real with you. And I don't really believe in something being a detriment to my career. If you take this, that whole situation out of its element and you show someone, hey, this guy got in trouble, so to speak, for being at his friend's biggest moment of his career, what do you think of that? That's a beautiful thing. Why should I ever get in trouble? Even to this day, I will ride for somebody because that's just in my nature. And I will never, ever, ever let a situation like that ever be something that hinders me or whatever the case. I already knew being so public about an affection for a friend, especially in your position, was always gonna be that's just Cody's friend. That's cool. If that's what you think of me, perfect. But when I get in the ring, when I get on the microphone, no one will ever say that sh** to me. I don't regret anything. I don't regret the rumble thing. The rumble thing was hilarious, because at the gym I said, hey. The footage? Yeah. I said, in the rumble, I was just like, hey, I'm on our way. That was also my fault. I walked you through the backstage area. We were going to the bus. We were headed to the bus. We were going to the bus and you were like, yeah, no one's here. I saw B, I saw the other guy, Pano, like I went to the bus that was it. The reason is is because I thought rumble was a very special moment to me. And I wanted to be there and be like, yeah, I'm here. This is great. This segment is brought to you by Fanatics. What is your Mount Rushmore of sports jerseys, including WWE gear that means the most to you. So you can do jerseys, you can put some gear in there. You can do all gear, all jerseys. What do you got? Mount Rushmore. Can it be my gear as well? It's you get four picks here. Let's go. My first one would be my gear that I wore against Sting in his second to last retirement match. Great one. Okay. Yes, sir. My second one actually would be my debut gear that I wrestled you against that I never worn since. I ripped the chains off it. I remember looking at you and the chains were ripped off the shorts. Yeah, you did. I thought it's hilarious. I mean, that boy got rough. Yeah. My second one, it can be any sports jersey. Yeah. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints, solid. Yeah, 2009. Yeah. And my fourth one, my fourth one is one that I actually don't own in possession because this person never given it to me. But if I had it, it'd actually be the American nightmare jacket. Which one? The OG one. It's upstairs. The one with my family picture inside? Yes, yes, that one. That's a tough one to get. You've never given it, given me one, but it's fine. We'll keep drinking. See where the night takes us. Sure. You know what I'm saying? See where the night takes us. Great picks there for our viewers and listeners who ever is on your Mount Rushmore, you can get all your favorite jerseys and fan clothing from Fanatics. Go to Fanatics.com or download the app today. You've been Saints Redemption. You have enjoyed several libations on the Saints Redemption. Thanks for telling us this drink. Thanks to Wheatley Vodka. Speaking of Wheatley Vodka, I want you to watch this right here and then I'm gonna ask you a question about it. Weedley's so good at drinking neatly. Watching Moscow always get the mule. That's my favorite drink. I like it as good as an American mule. Weedley's so good at drinking neatly. So Wheatley. Wheatley, baby. So good I drink it neatly. That's what Wheatley says. What does Ricky Sainz say? What is Wheatley so good I drink it? Wheatley. Yeah. Wheatley. Wheatley's so good I drink it. Wheatley, I drink it so sweetly. I am a very, I like sweet drinks. We're going Wheatley's so good I drink it sweetly. I know it's not beating the rumors here, but. That's a fair, that's a very fair. I like it. Ricky Sainz says, Wheatley's so good I drink it sweetly. Sweetly. I love that. Sweet guy. Just a little sweet. Well, you know, I'm talking about my palate, guys. Okay. I just want to make that. I'll throw you a different direction here. All right, so I like to say myself. Yeah, what is, what's. Wheatley American vodka. We make the American dream team. Now this is my time to ask you. We've had some unique answers to what makes up your dream team? Who's on your dream team? Before you start, we always get the question of how many people, what is it buddy? It's, we've had a basketball team. We've had multiple animals. We've had all soccer squad. We've had five people, four people. We've had multiple teams. Who is it to you? Right? Who is your dream team? Are these people that you have to know? Are they famous? I like to say the best way to look at it is that you're going into a war games match. I've also heard you're going into the zombie apocalypse. That's another way. Who are you taking? I'm taking, I'm taking Wheatley with me. Wheatley's in? I'll tell you. Are you the first person? All right, so why, if I get injured, I need these wounds cleaned. All right. So for sanitary purposes, for medical purposes. All right, so Wheatley's on the table. Wheatley's on your team. We're going to put the dead man on there. The Undertaker. Undertaker. Tell us why. Undertaker's my favorite wrestler. And I see this dude randomly, him and Michelle at the PC. We cut up, we talk about WCCW days, world class days, how we've known each other since then. I tell them these kids don't really get it. They don't understand. The new kids don't get it. Just don't get it. Yeah, they don't get it. I mean, my day, we wouldn't have done this stuff. Taping up fists and stuff. All right, if you keep putting them over, you gotta go do his podcast, okay? I'm waiting for him to ask me anyways. So Wheatley. Wheatley Undertaker. This one is an asterisk. Wheatley Undertaker. Cody Rose. That's not any glazing because I put you on my team. You never, you know, I don't remember. You never publicly said, hey, congrats. I did not tweet, congrats, Ricky. I didn't. He texted me, he said, I messaged you directly. But congrats, Ricky. Sorry. All right, so Wheatley Undertaker. Cody Rhodes. Hell yeah. Mick Foley. Why? He's awesome. I used to love Mick Foley. My top three favorite restaurants on Audie Junker. Undertaker, Mick Foley, The Rock. I know, shock. Rounding it out. You've got Taker, you've got Mick, you've got me, you've got Wheatley Vodka. Yeah. Who else? Matthew McConaughey. Okay. I've been in the ring with Matthew McConaughey. He came to show in Austin. We sent the crowd home happy. Recently, at the Moody Theater. Gave me one of the greatest compliments ever while standing in the ring, sending the crowd home happy at the end of the night ever in terms of my promos and interview skills. He just said, I can tell you really work on that. And he said it to me in a way, this is one of the world's greatest artisans. This is true detective. This is Matthew McConaughey telling me. Professor at UT. This is telling me that he can tell, he can tell that I work on it. Special moment. Wow. I don't wanna share the rest of it, but that's good. No, let's leave it there. Matthew McConaughey for sure. Great. And honestly, this is a wild card. Oh, it's a wild card out there. He's a stand in. Harry Connick Jr. That is the, okay. Tip what? Sing songs to you? Or what does he do? He's a lawyer too, first off. Yeah, you need a good lawyer. Trust me, I'm good. He also does sing songs. He's left and right, so. Yeah, you can't hide it. Thanks. You know why? Besides the lawyer stuff, he's a prolific family from New Orleans. Okay, do you get mad at the how Deadpool portrayed Gambit in the, or did you love it? I didn't like it. I think I must've told you a bazillion times. Yeah, you should be all the kids. I'm about to call you an eight for myself. He's made the jokes. You actually did talk about it online. I loved it. But you made the give. Oh, my nigga, man, voice over, that boy. My daughter still says that. Yeah. Well, here's the thing. Just because you think you could've done a better job. Absolutely. Channing Tim's a great actor. Hotty too. But, yeah, he's a very attractive guy, huh? Yeah, yeah. But you think you're a better guy? I'm attractive and I can do it better because it's authentic. I don't get the opportunity on the bus to ever really give advice that often because as I get older, I feel like I'm getting dumber. I feel like I'm learning. Like, as I'm learning more, I feel like I know less. It's a wild situation. Even as a, I always tell people, I'm like, you know, if I could start to get over at WWE a little and then people will be like, what, what'd you say? I'm like, yeah, just to me, it's a different thing. It's a different, I have a different expectation on what that is. Your perspective just, my perspective it continuously changes. But maybe some advice for Rico is you said that something as simple as a text message and what it means to you and that, do you have people in your life that you look in on and look after? Is there someone at NXT who looks up to Rico who wants to be in there with Rico? Is there someone like that? No. It's not a bad idea to find them. To find them. On my worst days, I reach out to my peoples. On my worst days because I like to make sure I know inside, hey, the world doesn't revolve around you, like me. You know, the world doesn't revolve around me. Check in on somebody else. I hate that it needs to be a bad day to remind me of that, but I also like that. I tell people all the time when they're so mad about the booking or the politics or the something, are you doing anything third party, are you doing anything outreach, are you doing anything out in the community? Because that's the good stuff. And that will put it right in your heart and perspective will change to where you'll realize, ah, there's a way bigger world here. Again, every wrestler thinks the damn world revolves around them. And it's such a small, we get such a short amount of time to do this. And one of the reasons, this podcast, this right here is not easy to pull off. Schedule is crazy. The ask that I get from WWE is champion level ask, even though I'm not the champion anymore. All of us is difficult. However, I know I don't get to do this forever. So I wanna keep doing it. I wanna do it as long, really I am a ride until the wheels fall off or as I said earlier, the gas is out. And at that point, I don't even know where we're pushing this thing. I feel that way when I do like, I train, I go to school. You go to my school. I wanna ask you about that. You're at my school a lot. You're training with somebody. Can we talk about who you're training with? Yeah, I don't see. You said that you should never weaponize a friendship. So in that moment, you taught me a lesson because I have tried to weaponize this friendship on multiple times and been like, what is this friendship? You train and you're best friend in the business, Jade. Yeah, we train. Tell me about that. You guys train hard. Dude, we go in there and we're like taking bumps and I'm like, okay, maybe I shouldn't be taking these bumps. But no, we train all the time and it's because I like training with people who have the same type of gumption. I like that energy, that passion of it. This person needs something to try something new. Hey, I need something to try as well. And I also like lending the stuff that I've learned, especially like, let's say forselling or whatnot. I like lending that to somebody and be like, That's it on. Yeah, I don't want to say that. This is how I do it. My wrestling and knowledge of it is a little bit more unorthodox than most people. Pretty shit. Well, there we go. We liked it. We liked it at that one point. But I love training. I love training with her. I even train in Austin too. So proud of her. She's, yes, extremely proud of her. Mania was such a great moment because I got to witness her first match and then the epic win, the title change. All at 40, huh? Yeah. So it was so great to me. And there's a lot of times where people, a lot of times people don't really experience the happiness through somebody else. I feel that a thousand percent. No, I'm not where I want to be at my career, but I have friends that are doing it. And I love that. This last mania, bro, C&J, Russell, and actually she did really good. Like really good. And then watching you on the bus and then watching the match, that's what I talk about. It's so close to the fire that I can only feel the energy that y'all have for it that I go, I'm already there with them. I want you to know that you know already my rule for, I've already blown it. My rule for friendship is simple. You have to show it. You have to show it. It's one of the reasons I get mad at Matt. Yes. The last time I'm shouting him out, but it's one of the reasons I get mad at people is the rule is you have to show up. You showed up and it was a detriment. In a way, you didn't consider it a detriment, but it could have hurt you financially. It could have hurt your wallet. It could have hurt your career. You showed up. I take the gamble every time. I can't wait. And I won't be old and bitter, too bitter at that point. But I cannot wait to be able to sit and watch you have your moment. There's nothing in there. There's a lot of you.