Finn Bálor

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes"

Episode: Finn Bálor
Host: Cody Rhodes
Guest: Finn Bálor (Fergal Devitt)
Date: January 7, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode brings together WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes and guest Finn Bálor (Fergal Devitt) for an open, intimate, and often humorous conversation about wrestling, legacy, mentorship, and real life. The episode dives into Finn’s journey from Ireland to WWE stardom, creation of the Bullet Club, “The Demon” persona, the importance of routine, and the behind-the-scenes world of wrestling. The interview also unpacks the struggles, emotional moments, and bonds formed over decades spent on the road.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. Finn’s Roots & The Irish Wrestling Scene (02:48–05:46)

• OTT Wrestling & Ireland:
  Finn and Cody share stories about OTT (Over The Top) Wrestling, an indie promotion in Ireland. Cody confesses to unwittingly overstaying his welcome at an OTT show, accidentally overshadowing a homegrown talent’s big moment, highlighting cultural differences and the importance of local stars.
  • "[OTT is] an independent company in Ireland who have a lot of the guys who I came up in the business now work there." – Finn Bálor (02:57)
  • Both recall the different role of public transport in Ireland and the unique vibe of Irish wrestling.
• Generational Connections:
  Finn reflects on how much the scene has developed, reminiscing about working with the new generation—including sons of people who helped him early in his career.
  • "It's generational... he has the chops... the level in OTT is really raising." – Finn Bálor (31:57–32:21)

2. Life on the Road & Maintaining Perspective (08:53–10:22)

• The Reality of ‘Home’ for Wrestlers:
  Finn and Cody discuss detachment from a traditional home life due to incessant travelling, and how wrestlers' sense of home shifts over time.
  • "Home really now is like, the airplane and the Marriott... Miami doesn't feel like home. Ireland now... I've kind of been gone so long. Don't really relate to the environment there anymore." – Finn Bálor (08:53)
  • Cody touches on the importance of compartmentalizing personal and professional life for longevity and mental health.

3. Family, Marriage & Support (06:36–08:50)

• Meeting & Marrying Veronica:
  Finn recounts how he met his wife—a Mexican TV personality—in San Jose during WrestleMania media obligations, building their relationship over years of sporadic contact.
  • "We met in San Jose... She was working for Fox... We just kind of crossed paths and that was it... Then about six years later... I asked for her number... She said no... We kept DMing... Finally, give me the number, and we never looked back." – Finn Bálor (06:41–07:49)
  • Talks about her shifting relationship to wrestling after experiencing the physical toll up close.

4. Childhood Inspiration & Early Wrestling Memories (11:09–13:35)

• Growing Up a Fan:
  World of Sport wrestling in Ireland, Saturday TV traditions, and transition to WWF heroes like Ultimate Warrior and Shawn Michaels left an indelible mark on Finn.
  • "One of my earliest memories as a kid was watching World of Sport Wrestling with my dad and my grandfather." – Finn Bálor (11:09)
  • The importance of crowd belief and authenticity in wrestling storytelling.

5. Wrestling Styles, Chain Wrestling, and Emulation (12:41–15:14)

• The Difficulty of “World of Sport” Style:
  Cody admits to “hating” World of Sport style wrestling due to its technical complexity, with both agreeing it’s often poorly imitated.
  • "They're very hard to pull off convincingly... a lot of it is emulated now, but really, really badly." – Finn Bálor (13:35–13:47)
  • Discussion of how storytelling context gives moves meaning, and pitfalls of copying high-profile “blowoff” matches without the build.

6. Creation of the Bullet Club & Wrestling Legacy (20:43–26:47)

• Bullet Club Origins:
  Finn details the inside story of how he was called the “real shooter” in New Japan, leading to the Bullet Club name (with Bad Luck Fale, Karl Anderson, and Tama Tonga).
  • "Suzuki... I caught him with an arm bar. Oh, David, you're a real shooter. And... Tiger Hatori... every day, hey, David, you're the real shooter... So when the time came... what ties us all together... it was Bullet Club." – Finn Bálor (20:43–22:07)
  • Cody stresses Finn’s industry-changing impact with Bullet Club. The legacy, global influence, and even the Hot Topic T-shirt phenomenon are credited largely to Bálor’s work.
  • "It was Bullet Club changes the entire business. Like, there's very few people who ever... changed our entire industry with a thing that they contributed." – Cody Rhodes (22:07)
  • Finn reveals his actual financial royalty from the club was minimal ($118), but the real reward was the mark left on the business.
  • "The payoff was not financial, but... way more valuable than any dollar amount... just what it's given to the business." – Finn Bálor (26:16)

7. The Demon Persona: Concept, WWE Evolution & Frustration (37:21–44:45)

• Conception in New Japan:
  Finn describes the original “Demon” (wanting to appear as a ‘shadow’), trialling it at the Tokyo Dome, and the unexpected success after initial skepticism from peers.
• WWE’s Handling & Personal Reservations:
  Finn confides that corporate storyline constraints muddled the persona’s simplicity, making it feel like Finn was “lesser than” the Demon rather than two sides of the same coin.
  • "It had to be storyline-based and advertised. In my mind, it was always just a cool entrance... In WWE, it had to be what made him turn into the demon... So then it became... Finn wasn't good enough. Only the demon could win." – Finn Bálor (38:48–39:49)
  • His favorite Demon moment: “NXT TakeOver UK – Jack the Ripper-inspired entrance.” (40:45)
  • Says he’d return to the Demon with more creative control: "I don't think I need it... I would love to have more creative control and I feel like I lost a lot of that, especially when I came to the main roster." (44:00)

8. Mentorship, Friendship & the Wrestling Brotherhood (46:18–49:16)

• Kevin Owens’ Heartfelt Message:
  Cody delivers a touching message from Kevin Owens, thanking Finn for his friendship and influence. Finn is emotional in kind, acknowledging their mutual support navigating NXT together.
  • "He's one of my favorite people and best friends in the whole world." – Finn Bálor about Kevin Owens (49:16)
• The Importance of Locker Room Bonds:
  Sharing the trials of “starting over” at the WWE Performance Center and the endurance required to adapt.

9. Building a Dream Team & Reflections on the Business (50:04–53:26)

• Survivor Series/American Dream Team:
  Finn’s picks for “ride or die” crew: JD McDonagh, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Chad Gable, Otis, Adrian Neville, and his dad (Pops). (50:04–50:25)
• Underrated Talent:
  Discussion of Chad Gable’s talent and willingness to “show his ass” as a performer, and why he’s one of the best in WWE.

10. Wrestling Evolution & The Big Guys (53:43–58:38)

• Influences & Representation:
  Finn credits Sean Waltman/X-Pac as the first to make him believe he, as a smaller wrestler, could succeed.
  • "Sean Waltman made me... believe, oh, maybe I can do this. Because he was, like, the smaller guy... He was the one who... made me... have that belief that, oh, it's not impossible." – Finn Bálor (54:10–54:18)
• Big Men Then & Now:
  Amusing comparison of “big guy” definition across eras—Matt Bloom is highlighted as an underrated, transformative force in and out of the ring.

11. Mentorship & Gratitude to Matt Bloom (57:24–58:42)

• Professional & Personal Impact:
  Finn tells how Matt Bloom helped him acclimate to Japan and later took him in when he moved to Florida.
  • "I would like to always say thank you... they are like my American family." – Finn Bálor (57:31–58:03)
• Producer Role:
  Finn lauds Bloom’s work as a match producer in NXT, considering that run among his best.

12. Wisdom, Detachment & Wrestling Maturity (60:12–61:02)

• Looking Beyond the Ring:
  Finn speaks about separating “Finn” from “Fergal,” learning to not take wrestling anxieties personally, and advises wrestlers to zoom out and think long-term.
  • "The older I've gotten, the more I've detached and I've separated, like, Fergal from Finn... I try and zoom out and think of... 25 years, not, like, a month." – Finn Bálor (60:12–61:02)

13. Compliments & Mutual Respect (62:22–62:56)

• Best Compliment:
  Finn thanks Cody for elevating live event business for WWE, marking an upswing in attendance coinciding with Cody’s return.
  • "Now it's 100% capacity. When that upswing happened was coincided with your arrival. And I don't think that's a coincidence." – Finn Bálor (62:40)

14. Reflections on Interviews, Authenticity, and Realness (63:47–65:39)

• Why Finn Avoids Media:
  Finn explains his retreat from podcasts and interviews, feeling there’s “too much noise” and content-for-content’s-sake out there.
  • "I stopped wanting to contribute to that... I want to do real things... This is real." – Finn Bálor (63:47–65:42)
• The Value of Authentic Conversation:
  Finn expresses gratitude at having this open, meaningful conversation with Cody.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Home and Wrestling Life:
"Home really now is like, the airplane and the Marriott because, like, we're on the road so much." – Finn Bálor (08:53)

On the Creation of Bullet Club:
"Suzuki... I caught him with an arm bar. Oh, David, you're a real shooter... And when the time came... it was Bullet Club." – Finn Bálor (21:10–22:07)
"It was Bullet Club changes the entire business." – Cody Rhodes (22:07)

On the Demon:
"In WWE, it had to be what made him turn into the demon... So then it became... Finn wasn't good enough. Only the demon could win." – Finn Bálor (39:49)
"I would love to have more creative control... I feel like I lost a lot of that, especially when I came to the main roster." – Finn Bálor (44:00)

On Mentorship:
"He's one of my favorite people and best friends in the whole world." – Finn Bálor on Kevin Owens (49:16)

On Perspective in Wrestling:
"I try and zoom out and think of, like, 25 years, not, like, a month, you know?" – Finn Bálor (61:02)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• OTT Wrestling Confession & Indie Stories: 02:48–05:46
• Life on the Road, Home vs. Wrestling: 08:53–10:22
• Meeting His Wife & Family Life: 06:36–08:50
• Early Wrestling Inspirations: 11:09–13:35
• Bullet Club Origins & Influence: 20:43–26:47
• Bullet Club Business and Payoff: 25:48–26:47
• Demon Persona Creation & Frustrations: 37:21–44:45
• Kevin Owens’ Emotional Message: 46:18–49:16
• Building a Survivor Series Dream Team: 50:04–50:25
• Praise for Chad Gable and X-Pac Influence: 53:43–54:24
• Matt Bloom’s Mentorship & Producer Role: 57:24–58:42
• Advice on Longevity & Perspective: 60:12–61:02
• Finn on Media and Realness: 63:47–65:42

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Final Thoughts

This episode delivers an in-depth, contemplative, and friendly conversation revealing the layers and struggles behind the performer’s persona. Finn Bálor emerges as thoughtful, honest, and humble, with deep gratitude for his mentors and contemporaries. Both he and Cody display a refreshing candor, offering listeners rare insight into the resilience, creativity, and real-life challenges of WWE Superstars. For wrestling fans and those interested in the psyche behind the spectacle, this is essential listening.

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Transcript

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[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

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[Cody Rhodes]

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[Cody Rhodes]

Hello, it's the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes. Welcome to what do youo Want To Talk About? We are at the lovely WWE Warehouse. This what do you want to talk About? Is a WWE and Fanatics original production. Incredibly excited about our guest today. We have wanted him on the podcast for quite some time. He is incredibly busy and there's been a lot of oh maybe, hey, hey, it could be this and maybe, maybe it's going to happen here and then I've been told he's coming and then no he didn't and finally we have him. So we're not going to waste our time because this one's a very special one for a myriad of reasons. And and I could go on with this introduction because I have often waxed poetic about what he has contributed to the overall wrestling economy and atmosphere. Not just wwe. Someone that many of us owe a great debt to. Again, we're talking about the inaugural WWE Universal Champion, a former United States Champion, Intercontinental Champion, a two time NXT Champion, all these things. The Founding father, the one don't give anybody any else any credit for. The Bullet Club and currently Judgment Day staple member. Just the absolute dude, the guy. Please welcome to what you want to talk About, Finn Balor.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Thank you for the lovely introduction.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, now I feel like you're going to be like, all right, thank you. And then leave.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Can't get out of here. Well, I do have a Heart out and about an hour.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's a.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

You're. You're. This is the. This is the third attempt we've tried to do this.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's what they say. The. Was it the third time's the charm, right?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. Third time. Look at the Irish.

[Cody Rhodes]

Look at that. The luck of the Irish. Speaking of. We'll write to it.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Can you tell me. I don't know if any of this is usable information.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Okay.

[Cody Rhodes]

Ott. Love it in Ireland.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yes.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yes. Over the top wrestling. Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

For people who don't know. It's an independent company in Ireland who have a lot of the guys who I came up in the business now work there.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Continue.

[Cody Rhodes]

I know. I'm just so curious. You mentioned luckily Irish. So I jumped right here. Am I allowed to make a bit of a confession?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Go ahead.

[Cody Rhodes]

You know my OTT confession.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I know. You don't have to apologize to me. You have to apologize to a lot of other people.

[Cody Rhodes]

I feel like I'm in the entire country. I've told it on this podcast before because of the immense amount of guilt I have with it. I will tell it one more time. I came to ott. I saw a giant poster. I was on an indie run where it's really. All you did was see the poster. You didn't even know what you were doing half the time. You saw a graphic. You saw my Stablemates. It was Mad Nick Jackson at the time. All this big giant photo of me. So I kind of thought, oh, maybe I'm the main gig here. Mistake. OTT had built up many of in house stars and had a true program. There was. They were doing business with the local and with people they'd homegrown. We were just a little sizzle on the plate. And that night, one of your contemporaries and peers and someone that you've been a mentor for and someone who you've kind of brought to the fold that being J.D. mcDonough was set to have his big night. And I'll just say I went long.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Was it against Walter now, Gunther?

[Cody Rhodes]

I don't think it was against Walter.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

No. Okay.

[Cody Rhodes]

Because I feel like Walter might have been the one to tell me, hey, don't go 18 extra minutes or whatever it is having people at the time I was having them kiss the ring. Cause it was a ring thing. They'd get all into it and it was very like you'd tee it up and they'd do it. So it took an excessive amount of time.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Whatever.

[Cody Rhodes]

Public transportation runs differently in the United States than it does in Ireland. And I made the mistake of going incredibly over to where when he won the championship and had his big moment, a lot of people had left because they had to leave.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. Like nor. I think it was a Sunday night and like, last bus is like 10:30.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And like, people use public transport in Ireland. You know, they don't drive places. They don't.

[Cody Rhodes]

And I was still in the ring at like 10:15, so I didn't know until later. There's a whole online snafu. We're not going to cover it all here. But that's my. That's my brief apology to ott, which I will consistently apologize. But it's a great. It's a great company.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

It's a great company. Yeah. And a great bunch of guys and they're doing great business. And it's. It. I was super lucky to get the opportunity to work there. Yeah. Last December, they brought me and JD over to work against two of the guys out there, and it was such a fun night. One of the most memorable nights of my career.

[Cody Rhodes]

How was the ring?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Small. Small. Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

But I didn't take any bumps, so it was fine.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, wow. No bumps, huh?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

No, it was fine.

[Cody Rhodes]

What a vet. This. This drink you have. Tell me about it.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

This drink I have, I've been told is called Demon Blood.

[Cody Rhodes]

Demon Blood, Yes. Wow. Okay.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Which contains Wheatley's American Vodka.

[Cody Rhodes]

Dang. Damn it. Damn right it does.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I haven't tasted it yet, so.

[Cody Rhodes]

Get it. Hey, cheers. This is a classic American Mule. Again, brought to us by our friends at Wheatley American Vodka. I hear that one's a little warm in the chest.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

That's not bad, actually. Yeah, quite like that. Yeah. Do we have the ingredients list on that?

[Cody Rhodes]

Probably at the bottom of the screen right now. No, it is not. Straight box with a dash of color.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

It's coming across the bottom of the.

[Cody Rhodes]

Was it warm in the chest as described?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

No, not at all. I'm married to a Mexican, so.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, my God.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I can deal with some heat.

[Cody Rhodes]

The heat, eh?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

I want to talk about that.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Okay.

[Cody Rhodes]

I want to talk about that. Yeah. Where'd you guys meet?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

We met, actually. We met in San Jose.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

It was my first WrestleMania. She was working for Fox. I was doing like one of those media mornings.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And she interviewed me and we just kind of like crossed paths and that was it.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And then we kind of like kept in touch, like once every six months by DMs or whatever. Haha. Nice to see you. Whatever. And then about six years later. Nah. It was a couple years later, maybe four or five years later, I said, you know what? There's something about this girl. I want to ask her out. So I asked her out. Well, I didn't ask her out. I asked for her number because we're DMing. So I asked her for a number.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, you got to get out of that dm. Yeah, yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And she said no.

[Cody Rhodes]

Whoa.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Another story, guys. End of the story. There it is. Oh, man. Oh, no. Okay.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

All right.

[Cody Rhodes]

Well.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

But we kept dming, like, for like, another month or two. Like, we were dming, like, every day back and forth. And then I finally, like, said, hey, come on, like, give me the number. Give me the digits. Yeah, we gotta take this to the next level. And, yeah, we never looked back. That was it.

[Cody Rhodes]

Did you ever get an answer? Was there a gamesmanship in this saying?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Nah, she just said, like, ah. Like, I live in Mexico. You live in Americ.

[Cody Rhodes]

Wrestler.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I work in tv. It's never going to work.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, she just gave up on it before.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. It was just too much of a stretch of an imagination.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, my gosh. And how long have you been together?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Seven years.

[Cody Rhodes]

Does she. Does she love what you do or she.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

She appreciates what I do. She used to love it more when I. When she wasn't with me. Now she sees the risks and the injuries and, like, the effect it has on me, and she doesn't like it as much. But I think that's important too, because, like, if you have someone at home who's, like, a super fan.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Then I'm always thin, Right. And, like. Yeah, you start to, like, feed. It's your own ego, and then, like, you just, like, lose the run of yourself. So I think it's super important to have someone at home that, like, helps keep you grounded. I'm like, when I go home, I.

[Cody Rhodes]

Well, home is home. Well, yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Like, home really now is like, the airplane and the Marriott because, like, we're on the road so much, like. And. Yeah, I live in Miami. Miami doesn't feel like home. Ireland now, when I go home, we're just home, home, and all my family are there. I've kind of been gone so long. Yeah. Don't really relate to the environment there anymore. And, like, what I picture as home is, like, Ireland 20 years ago. Ireland's, like, evolved so much and, like, changed in those years that, like, it'll always be home. But I don't. Don't sometimes feel at home there. But maybe it's just because I'm dipping in and out because, you know, I'm only in there for four or five days at a time.

[Cody Rhodes]

It's not the greatest term, but the carnival aspect of what we do kind of makes. Makes us a carny in a way where, like, everyone else has a home life and we don't often or sometimes we have seasons of it where we do. And then you get back into this and you get going full tilt. I asked in the sense of if she likes it. Just as I've gotten older, I don't bring to my home. I don't bring it back home anymore. Which is wild, because I feel like everything career wise is just. It's such a wonderful season for wwe. Everything's happening. But a lot of times I'm asked, oh, how was it? And it's like Old man style. It was good. Like, it's. There's so much behind the. It was good.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

So much there. But I'd rather it not enter the space because then you never escape it.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

You know, then you're always. And it's the same when it's Liberty's 4 and we have stairs in our house. And that's. Okay. Okay. That's like, my biggest challenge is seeing those stairs. Because, I mean, anyone who has children knows that all they do is once you sit down, you have to get back up. There's a reason you have to get back up. And that's probably the most I'll ever need pre workout in my life, is when I'm in my home. Cause you don't want to be that. You want to be papa or dad who's on none of the jobs. No big deal. I'm good. But, yeah, it's a. It's a wacky world we live in. And you've always loved it, right?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I've always loved it. Yeah. Since I was a kid. Yeah. Pretty much. Like, one of my earliest memories as a kid was watching World of Sport Wrestling with my dad and my grandfather.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And my dad. My grandfather was into the wrestling, but my dad wasn't into the wrestling. But at the time, wrestling was more popular than football, which we. You call soccer. Yeah. So they would show the wrestling on a Saturday afternoon, and at the bottom of the screen, it would flash up, like, the football results, the scores.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

So my dad watching it for the football, and my granddaughter was watching for the wrestling. Like, Big Daddy. Yeah, sorry. Giant hay stacks, Big Daddy, Kendo, Nagasaki, all those guys. So that was, like, early memories. And then like, kind of transitioned into WWWE when Sky TV came to Ireland. Then that was like Ultimate Warrior Hogan. Coco Beware was one of my favorites.

[Cody Rhodes]

It's such a departure from Big Daddy. I know you're Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks. Anyone who's not seen it. It's very short. But I not. I'm not looking at the in ring work as much as the crowd.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

The crowd are going bananas.

[Cody Rhodes]

They, they, they believed.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

And Regal always would talk to me about Big Daddy but I never saw it. And then one tour overseas I just decided to start watching the Big Daddy stuff. And it blew me away. It was so vastly different from Crockett or WWE or WWE at the time. But again I'm not watching for. I'm not making fun of it at all. Because look at these people. They are invested in this. They were. That's such a when. When you think world of sports. So I don't know if you know this. I'm kind of a world of sport hater.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Oh.

[Cody Rhodes]

But I'll make my admission to why y so wrestling schools all around the country. I, I have one now.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I know where you're going with this.

[Cody Rhodes]

And I wrestled folk style wrestling and freestyle whatever you call Olympic style wrestling. As a kid. That's what I considered I suppose real wrestling. But then when you go to a wrestling school chain wrestling is real wrestling. And this is the whole like. Yep. And you're doing you know like really great stuff like Davey Boy style. I'm using Davey Boy as example. Or like dynamite and all the things you get. Really impressive stuff. And I kind of always frown like that. Are you emulating grappling? Is. Are we emulating it? But really internally my full admission is that I just wasn't able to pull it off. So that's why I'm kind of a hater for the world of sports style of the whole. You know, not just the under the legs and some of the fun spots they did. I. They're very hard to pull off. These sequences.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I think they're very hard to pull off convincingly. Yeah. I feel like a lot of it is emulated now. But really, really badly.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And. And that is where it looks bad.

[Cody Rhodes]

So I think it's funny you say this. This is such a deep cut from a wrestler perspective. But you might. You might agree chain wrestling done bad is awful. Terrible. I think chain wrestling and Mr. Perfect Bret Hart. The kicks on the back of the leg are the two most I've seen tried to be redone spots in all of wrestling. Never to the same effect. I. I know that's a Very specific match. But I see it a lot with chain wrestling where it's like the hand up in the whole. That moment and it's not giving me. It's not giving me what I used to see with it, if that makes any sense. I don't. Maybe, maybe it's because it's not maybe because folks don't know what you're doing in terms of what are you simulating?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Well, I feel like a lot of matches people see there's. They see like the, the pay per view match or the blow off match and there's been like a whole story arc up to that where they've done all these different sequences and edited them, but edited them and like tweak them and change them and it makes sense because of the story. But people are emulating just the blowoff match. Right, right. So like they haven't told the backstory.

[Cody Rhodes]

Sure.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

So doesn't really make sense.

[Cody Rhodes]

Well, it's a copy of a copy in a way. A copy of a copy, copy of a copy of copy.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Because most people are probably copying someone who copied it from someone in the 70s who copied it from someone in.

[Cody Rhodes]

The 50s who, who knows you growing up.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Favorite wrestler growing up like super young would have been Ultimate Warrior. Transitioned into Shawn Michaels. Transitioned into Shawn Waltman.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh yeah, I gotta get Sean Altman's first. So we just added this. Ben Brown, the archivist. This is WrestleMania 7. The trench from Warrior and Warrior and Mach. And then Liz comes in the ring after. Also we were discussing why he puts the trench coat on after the match. We don't know. We. Our theory was that maybe he thought that they weren't going to get it back to him. You know, sometimes our stuff goes missing or like got auctioned off or whatever. So he puts it on to run out.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Auctioned?

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, yeah. You know, like I don't know or in my case be with my demon.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Customs have got auctioned off.

[Sleep Number Announcer]

I think.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, that's. You got to disappear. You got to keep eyes on this stuff. Otherwise it's gone. You know, some people have sent boots I remember to like for exhibits and only one boot came back. There's a, you know, there's a trading world for it all.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

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[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. That's a funny story.

[Cody Rhodes]

Tell me.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

So I got told I was working against Iguana in aaa. Yeah. And like, it was the first time I'd worked against someone who I wasn't familiar with in a long time.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And like, obviously like when you're on the Indies or you're in Japan, you kind of like research your opponents and you come up with some ideas beforehand. But WWE is pretty much like, you see everyone all the time. You kind of know all their stuff. Yeah. So this is the first time that I hadn't like known someone that I was stepping in the ring with. So I said, oh, I better do a little research like I used to.

[Cody Rhodes]

So what a pro.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. So I went on YouTube and it was 20 past 4 in the afternoon.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, I got you.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. And I typed in iguana.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Or Mr. Iguana. And the first match that came up was Mr. Iguana against Santino.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh my God. Cobra versus Iguana.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Cobra versus Iguana.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh my gosh.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I said, tom, I need something like that.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And then poof. Like a lightning bolt to hit me. I need a demon puppet.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

How are you gonna. How do you top an Iguana? Demon puppet.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Demon puppet.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

I love that that's the match that came up. I. I love that, that during that time of the day. I love that that's what came up also, even if it wasn't that that's the right match to be watching. Cause the psychology of that weapon, slash, exciting partner. However, you'd refer to your contemporary, your puppet, that moment. Santino was great about when the cobra came out or when the other cobra came out. There was like a cobra, then he had another one stuffed in there. Oh, my gosh. He used to do the spot. You would have appreciated it. It was Arn Anderson's favorite spot of the night. Santino would do a Master lock challenge and he'd get put in the master lock. That was it. He'd sit in the chair, put in the master lock, and he'd start shaking and he'd start going. And the entire crowd at these live events would start rallying behind him. And they would do one side and he'd come up, they'd get to the other side. They're working all four sides. He'd finally get to back to square one. And it looks like he's about to break it. And he'd just pass right out. And that was their legit live event. And it was. I, I, you. I saw it every night and still thought, like, he's gonna get out. It's gonna happen tonight. And then he just slunk over in his chair and they ring the bell. Duh. Just, you know, what's crazy about him. And I don't know if you have this experience. I bet you do. Especially. Isn't it funny sometimes the shootery types. Santino's this judo master.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Oh, yeah. I was just gonna say. But that comes with confidence. Right?

[Cody Rhodes]

Right.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah, definitely.

[Cody Rhodes]

And then they get here and his bit is all comedy.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

It's a strange. A strange thing.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Someone else like that too. Right.

[Cody Rhodes]

Well, I mean, like, if you look at Doink, the original Doink, there's all these guys who were just absolute like headhunters.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

There was a guy in World of Sport, going back to World of Sport.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Les Thatcher. I'm pretty sure he was a shooter. Yeah, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

You had to kind of be. Yeah, yeah. Do you consider yourself a shooter, Hooker? Any of these things? You've got grappling experience.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

You want to know a story which I don't think I've told actually.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Going like about the Bullet Club and where the name came from.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. The get. Yes.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

So I was a young boy in New Japan. Yeah. And before the shows, we would all like, warm up in the ring and the young boys would like be made do squats and push ups and stuff. And then we get in the ring with the senior wrestlers and we'd Be stretched, which would be, like, shot on, basically, and beat up. And we noticed Suzuki was in the ring with me. He was legitimate grappler. Yeah. And I caught him with an arm bar. Oh. And he goes, oh, David, you're a real shooter. And then Tiger Hatori, who, you know.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yes.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Kind of heard that. And every day, hey, David, you're the real shooter. You're the real shooter. So this was going on in the locker room for about a year, say, hey, David, you're a shooter. And he'd just do it like that. Shooter. And when the time came about a year later that the office came to me and said, hey, we want to turn your heel. Want to, like, put you at folly. We need to, like, get you guys, like, a group. So then they decided to put in Carl Anderson and Tama. Oh, yeah. I was trying to, like, think, like, what ties us all together. And at the time, Foley was using, like, the hand grenade finish, like, similar to solo.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And. And then there's the Machine Gun, and I was the real shooter. So I was like, what, like, links us all together.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And it was Bullet Club.

[Cody Rhodes]

I mean, you say it in the simplest of ways, but it was Bullet Club changes the entire business. Like, there's very few people who ever sit on this awesome show, have these drinks. Well, hopefully there's more, but there's very few cheers. Who you can literally tell changed our entire industry with a thing that they contributed. I feel like that's the greatest title of all sometimes is. I. I know I always do this to you, and I did it in the ring live in Belfast, and I'll continue to do it to you.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

You've done it, actually, when you first came back to WWE as well.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Because I went on your bus to welcome you back, give you a hug, and you spat it out straight away because of. And I was blown away because not many people are as honest as you.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And not many people, like, tell how they really feel. You know, a lot of people, like, like, shut down and kind of, like, try and put on this macho image.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

But you don't.

[Cody Rhodes]

I mean, how could I. I benefited so much so that they call me back. That I benefited from a thing you created, and I got to be part of. Even though I'm not the most glamorous part of it, I got to be part of it for just a short moment in time. Look at the list of people who've been part of the Bullet Club. And then, of course, we were talking about it in here and not Everyone knows, especially if we've been in the WWE bubble, I don't want to be the one. I know I jokingly say this all, but you're owed so much money by so many other wrestlers. You legit.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And I know it's not PayPal, Zelle Cash App, Venmo.

[Cody Rhodes]

I know you're always like, no, no, but I. I mean, if you were to today with all these wonderful people in the TKO bubble who bring up these graphs of ratings, relevancy and revenue and these really great metrics, if you were to really backlog and go all the way to when the shirts started bringing back to Sweden in a different way where it wasn't just a nostalgic way and becoming this entity, it's so hard to get anything rolling outside of here, and it's even harder to get things rolling outside of here consistently where it's must see, have to see it. I mean, you've heard this Hot Topic story a thousand times, right? The head president of Hot topic comes to WrestleMania, sees the Bullet Club shirts everywhere and keeps asking, hey, when are the Bullet Club guys coming out? And they had to explain, no, that's not. It's a. It's another company. It was started by. He's actually here now. It's a whole thing. But then he thought, well, I still want the shirt. The only reason that shirt ever makes it to shelves is because you had. You had built it with pretty much just not luck, full hard work. And what you guys were doing, making the whole world. I mean, wrestling is all about turning heads. How long can you turn someone's head? How long can you gravitate their attention? I remember my dad's not the greatest, like, commentator, but I remember one time he said something about Hogan when Hogan was in the ring. And I never forgot it because I could tell he was just talking from a completely internal perspective. But it worked. For the commentary. He said he's here to wrestle Sting at Starcade. He says, no one has captured the imagination of the audience like that man for this long in the history of the business. And I thought, that's really what we do. How long do we have him? And a lot of times we think we still have them. And nope, it's over. We can't, right? That's something you created that still is capturing their. Their imagination. And it's. It's your creation.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

But I think that's the payment, right? Because I was in NXT about, like, eight months, and I get a call from New Japan. It's like, hey, David, we got some money for you. Hey, David Chan, we got royalty check for you, man. I'm like, whoa. We got a royalty check for New Japan. I said, oh, Tiger, thank you so much. How much will I do? He goes, ah, like, $118.

[Cody Rhodes]

Just.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I'm like, $118. He goes, yeah, man, we need your bank details. I said, tiger, give it to charity. I'm good. Yeah. So I feel like the payoff with, like, Bullet Club was not for me, at least was not financial, but, like, I feel like it was way more valuable than any dollar amount that I could have been given from, like, just what it's given to the business. Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Well, I can't thank you enough. I can't. And I stand by the fact that you're. You're at the same point.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I need to also thank Carl Anderson. Gallows.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Follet Tama.

[Cody Rhodes]

Would you like Gallows? Would you include Gallows in there? You got to, right?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah, 100%.

[Cody Rhodes]

Ever tell you about it?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I can't speak highly enough of Gallows. He's so funny, and I can't express how much the locker room misses him.

[Cody Rhodes]

So we don't talk. Gallows and I will, like, not talk for six months, and then I'll see him. He'll come back or something, and it's right back. Oh, yeah, he's so funny. And I didn't know Carl that well, and so, like, they just make such a good team, such a good unit. Anyway, so Gallows had an Indy in Georgia called Bulletproof. Again, he's still riding. It was still Bullet Club. He was still on the Bullet train. Right. And I kid you like that. I kid you not, I wrestled. I forget who I wrestled. We did the main event. It was a small indie, but we did pretty well for a Georgia independent. And then, no joke, Gallows, as we're setting down, literally slapping hands and the show's over, saying good night, Gallows pulled in. It's going to sound terrible, but I think it's okay with a truck. And he had in the back of it all of his WWE action figures, and he put them on the merch table and offered like a. Basically a half off. Hey, get these. It was this last little minute, like the 5050 rally, this last little carnival, like, element. And I mean, people were eating it up. It was. I. And I didn't think I'd see him. I just. He was doing this and asked me to be part of it. And he's always got an angle, always moving. I think people like him in the Business when they're not around, we will really miss them, you know, because as time goes on, it gets really corporate and you know, man, I need a guy telling somebody he's gonna backdrop him while he's butt naked, making him uncomfortable. You know, I need like that moment.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

He's a dying breed.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, for sure. I'm trying to think. I'm like, who else is like that, right? There's not many.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

No.

[Cody Rhodes]

And that's not just Japan, America and Internet. He's very specific to that style of wrestler. And I don't.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I mean, yeah, like, I haven't been like on the independent scene for like 10 years. So like I. Maybe there's guys out there, but I don't know.

[Cody Rhodes]

All right, this next question is part of a segment we call game plan fueled by game day Men's health. Because let's be honest, showing up at your best takes work. So let me ask you, let me ask you, what is your plan for staying sharp? Could be physical, could be mental, could be family stuff. Whatever it is, how do you stay in the zone and keep pushing even when life's stacked against you?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I'm a routine guy and I like to do the same things every day, no matter what day it is. So pretty much every day, same breakfast, same lunch, same dinner, same routine. And that's slightly different if I'm on the road or if I'm at home. But most importantly is eat whole foods. So my just real foods. Eggs, meat, chicken, nuts, avocados, yogurt, berries.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's it.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

A little bit of caffeine in the morning and try and spend some time in nature, be it in the mountains, in the woods or in the ocean.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's exactly why game day is out here. Helping guys optimize their energy, focus and longevity. You don't have to slow down. You just need the right game plan. Check out gameday men's health.com Cody to learn more. That's a great question. In terms of from now all the international success. WWE doing international shows left and right at international no longer a secret. It's no longer this thing we go over and oh my gosh, these crowds are amazing. But you really don't know. Now big ples are being hosted. Any independent or young upand cominging guys that you've seen who are coming from Ireland, from the United Kingdom, is there anyone that's that you think's on the level that that will make it over? Can't.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Can't think of his name off the top of my head and I Feel embarrassed because I worked him at ott. He was a young kid, that stuff.

[Cody Rhodes]

Bad stuff.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I know his father, Colin Nelligan.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's all that.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

So this is a good story. So when I was running independent shows in Ireland, like, back in, like, 2002 column. Nelligan.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

This kid's father was like, one of the guys who had helped me out, like, taking tickets or setting up the lights or whatever. And his infant kid was, like, 2 years old. And we would bring him to the shows. Yeah. And there's a picture I think of me in the ring with Jordan JD McDonough sitting ringside. And then behind him, Colm Nelligan Holden son, who I then wrestled at ott, like, a couple weeks ago or months ago with Jordan. So it was wild.

[Cody Rhodes]

It's generational. Does he have the chops, or was it more just seeing the love and our. Like, he's somebody, you know.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

No, he has the chops. He has the chops. He was super young. He was, like, 19, 20, 21.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And, like, listened, like, didn't get stressed when I didn't, like, call a bunch of stuff beforehand.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Like. And, yeah, he was great. Oh, man. Yeah. But I feel like the level in OTT is like. Is. Is really, like, raising.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, it's a word. I feel like even the. The. With my big snafu over there, what I didn't realize is the. The level of quality product. You know, you sometimes the independence. You got the mom and pops where it's really about, hey, we got the guests. You do the mom and pop stuff. Give them a little bit of what tv previously, it's more that. And then other times, you have something that's inhouse, it's built. Yeah. And. And you're really there to just kind of push it over the edge a little bit. And that's it. And OTT is also great production ahead of the time. Ahead of their time in terms of. In terms of production.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

When NXT UK started. Yeah. Which was a huge thing at the time for British and European wrestling. Yeah. I feel like it kind of, like, took all the talents and it starved all the indies, and it took a long time for them to rebuild the refresh to happen. And for a lot of them, it hasn't even happened yet because, like, there's no one to, like, learn from or look up to. Like, the guys like, you know, Tyler and Pete and everyone else who came to WWE now, like, the younger kids don't have anyone to learn from. So I feel like there was probably a huge negative effect on like the, the gulf of talent that like WWE took.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Out of that like I guess territory, you know.

[Cody Rhodes]

Right.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

But slowly it's starting to rebuild. Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

I mean we've seen that domestically in the States with everything that's popped up with other places to wrestle and things of that nature, it, it strips away.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

And then it's, there's a negative byproduct to it. But then the positive byproduct is these 19, 18, 19 year old, all of a sudden they're 22, 20, they're, they've, they've grown and they've had to do it very much on their own and they've got a set of skills. So it always kind of, I hope refreshes itself that's and replenishes. Otherwise we have nowhere to look, you know, when, when we need it the most. Big news, WWE and sports fans. The world's number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest, is making its return to New York City. Fanatics is bringing you closer to the leagues, teams, superstars and athletes you love. Across four action packed days in July. Meet your favorite WWE Superstars, get your hands on exclusive merch, catch live podcasts and interact with the biggest names in sports. Tickets are on sale now and fans of the podcast can use code CODY10 at checkout for 10% discount. Head to fanaticsfest.com to get your tickets today.

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[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Can I make my site firmer?

[Cody Rhodes]

Can we sleep cooler?

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[Cody Rhodes]

If you're the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant, you know having a trusted partner makes all the difference. That's why hands down, you count on Grainger for auto reordering. With on time restocks, your team will have the cut resistant gloves they need at the start of their shift and you can end your day knowing they've got safety well in hand. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done. I want to ask because we talked about the Bullet Club and I want to. We've already talked About Demonito, but we didn't really hit the demon. And I feel like that's another area that's just incredibly. There's you doing body paint in New Japan. And what would Prince be doing? What would you be doing that people would. I want to see it. That's going to be cool. I want to see it. And then there's another layer where you. You. I don't want to use the word market, but you market it and it becomes in the character itself with the demon. These are also bullet club level contra. Like, this is just my favorite thing about having a conversation with you today is to really, if you're able to layer the amount of stuff you've done and you're not done, my gosh, you're not close to done. Some are slow learners and our. Some are rocket to the moon and that's it. This is really a body of work. That was something that the person who trained me was always about. Hey, when my body of work is put up against his body of work. Look at all these points. As far as the demon is considered. Do you have a favorite moment with WWE and the demon?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Demon's a touchy subject for me. Let's go back to the concept.

[Cody Rhodes]

We can. Yeah, right? Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

So I'd recently turned heel in New Japan, and I was like, really fighting an uphill battle because I'd been baby face for so long. Squeaky clean, white meat baby face. And I'd recently turned heel, and I was now against like the, you know, shining light Ibushi, you know, the up and coming, like, white meat, baby face, handsome Ibushi.

[Cody Rhodes]

Right.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And he's like, wears white gear, and we're in the Tokyo Dome, whatever, 45,000 people or something like that. And I'm thinking, like, how can I make this, like, look different? And I want to take everything away from the fans that they physically recognize me for.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay, Right.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

So the first idea was, oh, what if I wear like a bodysuit? But I thought, like, oh, no, Liger wears a bodysuit. Saying, like, I'm kind of thinking about, like the Tokyo Dome and how small the ring is in that giant arena. And I'm thinking about, like, the people in the back. What are they gonna see? I thought, like, wouldn't it be cool if it was like Ibushi wrestling against a shadow?

[Cody Rhodes]

Right?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And that was like, my original concept was like, I was just gonna be head to toe black. Completely black. Yeah. And so for back, it would look like he was wrestling against a shadow. And that kind of slowly developed into the demon, like, in the weeks leading up to the.

[Cody Rhodes]

The.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

The dome show where we'd done it first. And side note, Carl Anderson, who was in New Japan with me at the time, I told him the idea and he goes, everyone's got to laugh at you, bro. You got to look stupid. I said, I'll try it. Who cares? And I trusted him. Right. But, you know, I said, I'll it anyway. It's worth a shot. And I done it, took off, and it was cool. But going back to the. The question, a favorite moment. I'm not sure if I have a favorite moment, because once I came to wwe, it kind of got muddled up a little bit, and there had to be, like, a reason for why the demon appeared, and it all had to be storyline based and advertised. And in my mind, it was always just a cool entrance. And it was something that, like, that, like, changed me into, like, you know, Braveheart puts on the battle paint and he goes to war. And that's the way it was for me. But in wwe, it had to be, well, what made him turn into the demon? He had to get beat up and beat down and pushed to the limit to then turn into this monster. So then it became the point where Finn wasn't good enough. Only the demon could win. So then, like, Finn was lesser than the demon, where they're supposed to be the same. Right. So that was one issue I had with it. The other issue I had with it was it was always advertised, which I like it to be a surprise. Like, oh, shit, the demon's here. Like, you know, and it just comes out and kicks ass. But favorite moment would probably be take over uk. Okay, but the hat. The hat. And. Yeah, yeah. So it was like the Jack the Ripper inspired, like, London, not necessarily for the paint and the design, but the way the. The truck shot that entrance. Yeah, like, the way, like, I go from, like, silhouette with, like, the London background on the screens into the lighting where, like, then it reveals the demon with the hat. And then the fact that, like, my family and friends were all, like, there because the shows in London, it was like, that was a special night and it was returning to London, I thought I'd kind of left that scene. Yeah. And, like, going back there with nxt, like, I think I was the champion defending the title. So it was pretty cool. That was a cool night.

[Cody Rhodes]

Are you ready to hold WWE history in the palm of your hand? Topps is bringing you closer to the action than ever before. With wwe, Topps now highlighting the biggest matches and milestones from WWE shows and ples throughout the year. Topps 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 Top Snow releases offer a chance at rare short prints, Superstar autographs, and even in 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 topps.com and follow Topps on all social media platforms. So you never miss a single moment. I feel like, you know, there's always booker sayings and these older wrestler, whether they're the booker, producer, president, they always sometimes will say something and I feel like there's an air of that here. Where did anyone ever tell you that? And this isn't an opinion as much as I'm curious if anyone told you maybe it was something that you outgrew in terms of the demon character or just the general sense. Because like old School Wrestling 101 look at you. You don't cover that up. Like you're. You're 10 out of 10 dog. Oh you know, like. And you're shredded to the gills. An old school wrestler perspective. Like I think a lot about when I wear the mask. Jason Baker makes these masks. He's super talented. Hate when he makes other people mask and doesn't tell me but hate it legit. But I always think about a lot of times like I think about my dad and I think about other old timers like no, don't cover your face like that. And I don't necessarily just subscribe to the philosophy. Cause sometimes it's like, no, it's cool. Yeah, it's cool. I'm doing this cool thing. Right. But I wonder if that's something because it feels like maybe the block is filled in terms of I totally get all those it being advertised. It's supposed to be a surprise. But I don't know, I just was curious. Did anyone ever tell you you didn't need it?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I don't think I need it. And that's probably why I was so resistant to doing it for a long time.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Because like the way it was kind of been booked and presented by the company, I felt it just wasn't effective. Right. And or as Effective as it could have been.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And then I think there was some sort of confusion about, like, why is he the Demon some nights and fein the other nights and then maybe some people are getting let down when I'm not the Demon and stuff like that. So I would love to go back to doing it. Yeah. But I would love to have more creative control and I feel like I lost a lot of that, especially when I came to the main roster. I think it was done really effectively in nxt. I think when I came to the main roster wasn't done as well for multitude of reasons. But in the future I would love to get back to doing it.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'll give you a moment of vulnerability on my half that I thought, I'm not going to tell him this. He'll think this is. But I'm gonna tell you. All right. I. Right before I left, when I was doing Stardust, I wrote Hunter like a four page email, which, you know how that goes. Anytime it's more than a page, it's probably already an issue. That's a lot for someone to look at and sit down and give their time over. I really wanted to wrestle the Demon as Stardust because Stardust had no legitimacy. It was all comedy. But there was one match or one moment away from providing it some credibility, even in a losing effort. And I remember I wrote this whole email about it and I don't know what happened to the. I wouldn't have read the email.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Went into a spam, probably.

[Cody Rhodes]

Who knows? Who knows? He may never have seen it, but it speaks to not just the Demon itself, but also nxt. Black and gold in nxt. That entire NXT era is largely. Actually, I was gonna bring this person up. So much of it is your signing on and the name change, everything. All that first night, you coming in and committing to it. I was shocked. I was. I was genuinely shocked because he is such a prickly individual to find out that you and Kevin were tight. And he texted me while we were talking. So this is the only. I wasn't gonna look at my phone and be rude. I asked him, was there a question you. I think he asked a sincere question, which now I'm. You ready for a Kevin Owens question?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. I hope I don't get emotional, though, because I do love Kevin.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, buddy, this is a. I wasn't ready. I thought he'd send a joke in, like, you know, you know how like he says some shit every now and then. It's like he'll say something that's like, you can feel his mood. This is from Kevin Owens, who's now the co host of what do you want to talk about? Just with this question alone, ask him if he realizes just how much he has done for me since we met by being himself and how important he has been to me for the last 10 years and how much I value his friendship. He goes on, he is the epitome of I take a fatal bullet to the head for the guy any day of the week in my book. Not just for him. I do it for his whole family. The greatest crew of people ever. What a great question from Kevin.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Was that a question or a statement?

[Cody Rhodes]

It's just a statement meets a question. His actual question was if you, if you realize how much you've done for him.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I don't think Kevin realizes how much he's done for me.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. Right.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Because although like, me and Kevin have had very similar backgrounds and like, kind of like journeys to wwe, we'd actually only met each other once in passing at an indie show in London. Yeah. And it was like about four months before we started in nxt. And that was kind of the only reason why we even like shook hands and like said, oh, hey man, nice to meet you. But we started in NXT together.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And we're two guys coming from like, similar, like career paths, but like different places.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

But we're now in a new company in a new country, trying to learn a new style.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And kind of also been like tested a little bit. Right. Because the performance center, they test you. Because we went from like, him, like main event and ro to me, our main event in New Japan to now being in a warehouse doing like, forward rolls with like rookies.

[Cody Rhodes]

Hip toss class, bro.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Drop down, leap frog. Drop down leaf frog. Drop down leap frog. And like, it's a test. Right. And if you shut up and pass the test, you'll be fine.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's really good advice for some people who need to hear right now.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. Yeah. Everything's a test in this business. Like, you don't have to succeed. You just have to try, dude.

[Cody Rhodes]

Right.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

You just have to give it everything. And if you've go to failure, that like, the coaches will be happy. Right.

[Cody Rhodes]

Everything is a test, though.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. So me and Kevin like, kind of like bonded really strongly over like the common obstacles that we were having to overcome together, like in this new life that we're having.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

In, in NXT and wwe. And Yeah, I know, like, we're very probably different. I couldn't believe it, like, personally in every way. Like, the way we wrestle is different.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Like, you know, our lifestyles are different, but, you know, sometimes opposites attract. And like, me and Kevin, I can honestly say he's one of my favorite people and best friends in the whole world.

[Cody Rhodes]

This question, I think, is set off. I. I think I'm now going to have. I want Kevin to send in a question forever. I don't think they'll be near as sincere with you, but I said that just in. I wanted to make sure. I was like, I want to cover all my bases with him. And I asked him that and I thought, I wonder. He'll probably just send in a Kevin like message. No, that was quite special. I love the folks at Wheatley. We like to say we're the American dream team. So I often ask people, who's your American Dream Team? Survivor Series Team A. Zombie apocalypse. Who you're taking with you? Whatever. 70 people, 4 people, animals. Whoever is with you, who's your ride or die? Who is. Survivor Series is a good way to break it up into numbers. But who's coming with you? Who's on your team?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

J.D. mcDonough. Love it. Kevin Owens, of course.

[Cody Rhodes]

Co host.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Sami Zayn. Yeah. Chad Gable.

[Cody Rhodes]

No. Yes. Okay.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Otis.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Those two are my riding buddies.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay. Gotta have them.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. Adrian Neville. Okay.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's a solid crew. No one is beating that team.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I'll put my pops in there.

[Cody Rhodes]

There you go. Yeah. No one's beating this team.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

No.

[Cody Rhodes]

How old your pops?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Like, 74, 75.

[Cody Rhodes]

In a fight like this, he doesn't have to get up because I'll just keep money.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Avren.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. Like, he doesn't have to do.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I'll handle it. Don't worry.

[Cody Rhodes]

But also, Chad Gable, like this, you know, the shooter.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

You know, Chad, I. I said this the other day, and I hope Chad being a little shorter, even though he's jacked of the gills. Yeah. Always suggests stuff that's like, I wonder if I'm, like, a bit too big for that, but because it's Chad, I'm like, nah, we'll do it.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And going back to the shooter stuff. Yeah. Shorty G. Shorty G. Completely opening to.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Like, like, like showing his ass.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. You know, that guy's incredibly talented.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

He's. Yeah, he's one of the best guys we got.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Out of the ring, I feel like.

[Cody Rhodes]

There'S something on the hill for him that I hope he keeps everything every. He seems always gunning for it and hungry for it and just something because he's. He's special.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. He may be one of my favorite matches I've had since I came back here. So matches like the live event matches, which we had plenty of, those are always gonna be the most fun. But then the TV matches are like, hard hitting, short, sweet, who knows what they may be, but with a lot of content. And he was one that I got, like, an incredible, incredible moment out of him that night. So, yeah, shout out to him. That team. Yeah, that team's pretty. No one's beating that team, though. There's no one on the team.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

You could get on the other team. Could be like Brock, Roman, Seth, you.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'm gonna be honest, I don't think.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Logan, Paul Cena. Oh, lp, you're probably gonna win.

[Cody Rhodes]

LP Was wearing a bulletproof vest in the ring last night, and I just. I. I wasn't sure. Do you know what it was? Was it a bulletproof vest? Was the New York market scary to him or something?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

What the.

[Cody Rhodes]

Well, two things I wanted to flash back to because you said Sean Waldman, you said Xbox. So you know how he did the jumping back kick? I just wanted to tell you this because this was my experience. You watch wrestling, you see how someone does it. This was something that happened to me during my brief time with New Japan, but it was a good lesson, is the speed and fluency of things can be a little different. And our friend Kenny Omega does that same kick. He does it a little differently, though. And I thought it would be kind of Sean Waltman style. Jump up and it like pops and then you fall. Not like it drives through.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah, he kind of goes, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

And I had. I was wrestling him and Kota Ibushi and brother, it went through my head. And it's not his fault, it's my fault.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

But it's lightens a lot.

[Cody Rhodes]

It's the first time I got like a boxer cut and I'm just bleeding profusely. And I thought this was like. Every time you see Shaun Waltman do it, it's this.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

It's not that. I don't know. And I kept thinking, you know, hit me with that Xbox. Hit me with that Xbox. And now anytime somebody's like, hey, it was spinning back. I don't know, is it that or is it something else? You know, because, like, driving through was. I had no clue it was coming like that. But, yeah, that was my. When you mentioned him, because Bryan Danielson is another person who talks about him all the time in terms of being one of the most underrated, insanely great. This being Sean Waltman. Valuable wrestlers for someone to watch.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. For me, SummerSlam 95 Hakushi vs 1, 2, 3 kid was one of the matches that I've watched on repeat the most in my childhood. And, like, Sean made me, like, Sean Waltman made me, was the first person that kind of made me believe, oh, maybe I can do this. Because he was like, the smaller guy and he's tall, but in that generation, he's 6:2, I think. But, like.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, right.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah, right. But, like, in that generation, they were all like, 6, 7, 6, 8. So he looked much smaller. And I thought, like, oh, maybe I can do it.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

He was the one who, like, made me, like, kind of have that belief that, oh, it's not impossible.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

You know, and then he obviously beat Razor and all that stuff, and it's like, oh, shit.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. Yeah. He's. He's. I feel like anyone if you're just somebody who's. There's. All the library books are there now for you to go back and watch things like, you're talking about. He's. Psychologically.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Even. It's hilarious. He was a tall guy, but he was small in that era because they're really, you know, I don't want to be crude, but they're like dinosaurs, the size of these men. When I see my own brother or like, Billy Gunn. Where. Who. Who are you? Like, yo, y' all were living civilian life. Yeah.

[Sleep Number Announcer]

Oh, my.

[Cody Rhodes]

Just.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Just like, what a stud.

[Cody Rhodes]

And this was something we saw. I saw at least in my time away on the Indies. Being a big guy is hard now because what do you do? You either champion.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Or you're, you know, like someone's heater. So there's. There's not that middle ground anymore.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I also think it's funny how the big guys now are, like, 613 pounds. Yeah. But, like.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. Like, I've always considered myself a light heavyweight. I'm a big boy here now.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Oh, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'm a big boy.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Hey, you know who's a super underrated big guy?

[Cody Rhodes]

Who?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Matt Bloom.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, my gosh.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And he didn't even look like a big guy.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

In that. At that time.

[Cody Rhodes]

He's one that, you know, when you find yourself, like, you see a match, somebody's like, oh, that was really good. Three months later, here's another match. He's somebody that is extremely underrated. And I feel like with what him and Sean are doing down there now, he definitely doesn't. And he's a big part of your, you know, someone who was there for you. When you came to Florida and there for you in Japan, and carried it forward all the way, he's another person. Contributions wise. Oh, you know, immense. We were talking about last chapters, and I was doing. You know what, this is the thing. When people ask me for a wrestling Mount Rushmore, I tell a different one each time so that somebody finally is like, this guy just makes this shit up. He's not committing to this. But the last time I talked about it with somebody, I said, here's a last chapter about Rushmore. Here's four wrestlers who. Their last chapter was absurd. They gave something, and you didn't even realize he's somebody, that this was his life's work.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Like, anytime you hear anybody that encounters him or has a moment, really, really special, I don't know if you want to speak to that, but that's. That guy's a student.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. Like, going back, like, 24 years old, new boy and new young boy in new Japan.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

You know, sit at the front of the bus and, like, I know, like, like, what was his. He was doing.

[Cody Rhodes]

The.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

The first gimmick he done in WWE was like, Prince Albert.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, Prince Albert.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Like, all these tattoos.

[Cody Rhodes]

A train. Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And I was like, oh, my God, that's a train on the back of the bus. Oh, shit. I better behave. You know, like, all the Japanese boys are behind me, and he's right down the back of the bus. I'm, like, sitting up at the front of the bus. Hey, kid. I'm like, is he talking to me? Hey, Irish kid. I'm like, yes, sir. Come back here. And, like, straight away, like, he's super welcoming.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Like, took me out for dinner, like, helped me get, like, acclimatized to.

[Cody Rhodes]

Working.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

In Japan, living in Japan. Had to deal with the office over there, how to deal with the boys over there.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And then, like, fast forward, like eight years. When I moved to nxt, I had to find a place to live because I'm not from America. So in the period. The transition period of looking for a place to live, I actually lived with Matt Bloom and his family for three months. So to Matt and Farah, I would like to always say thank you because for me, they are like my American family.

[Cody Rhodes]

So Matt may be the one wrestler who doesn't owe you money for all his other wrestlers. No, I owe him money for the Bullet Club situation.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I owe Matt Bloom a lot.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay. Oh, my gosh. Well, shout outs. Yeah. Cheers to Matt Bloom, for sure. It's multiple times he's been mentioned, and it's it's important to note, too, that he's down there developing people now, developing individuals who are. Who are coming.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. And actually, little known fact, I want to give him also another shout out because my second run in nxt, which I'm very proud of, which I consider probably some of my best in ring work in my career.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And the producer I worked with on every match was Matt Bloom.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And he's someone who really, like, understands how I work. And for that I'm grateful for. And I would love to have him on the main roster, but I feel like he's much more valuable to the business at the performance center, for sure.

[Cody Rhodes]

And times change in a way that's really wild. You know, Ben is sitting there and I pointed him out several times. Ben's never changing. This warehouse is his.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Things come in here, but all the other positions in here, it's really wild. If you look at WWE and you see, like, oh, that guy's in charge of this now. And that guy, it's growing. And then also the question of, well, who's next?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Right. Because it's such a different WWE now who's interested in the people move on.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And people have to step in. Eventually will have moved on and there'll be.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's the wrestling. I always tell people, like, don't really ever hate anybody. Don't. Don't hate anybody. You.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

You.

[Cody Rhodes]

You probably will, but don't, because you will work with them again. Yeah, you will. You know, like, I have burned boats, bridges, everything, and then known, like, oh, you know, I'm going to have to deal with that person, you know, like, I got to figure out how that looks for me. And after a while, you start realizing, like, no, just end it all professionally. That's something that. I feel like the old timers were maybe a little better than our generation, or at least like, emotional types like me is. They were really good about. All right, we're done.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

See you again.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Later. Business is business, right?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I feel like a lot of stuff right now is, like, way too personal.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. I mean, I'm up.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

I need to hear that on a regular basis.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I'm.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'm obsessed with this. And it's like, what. You know, just like, it's. Sometimes it's just business.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah. I think I used to be obsessed with it. And, like, the older I've gotten, like, the more I've detached and I've separated, like, Fergle from Finn. And, like, I can understand, like, if, like, I can sometimes I'M in the locker room and I. I can, like, tell someone's, like, working me. Oh, that's, you know, or like, you know, trying to manipulate the situation.

[Cody Rhodes]

Bad salesman.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And I just. I just. Doesn't bother me. Okay, fine. Like, bad sales. Because Finn isn't a real person.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And, like, Fergo's gonna go home, and it's not gonna affect, like, Fergo tomorrow. So I always try, like, zoom out and like, oh, you're not being booked, right? Or, oh, you're not getting enough W's. You're losing all the time. I try and zoom out and think of, like, 25 years, not, like a month, you know?

[Cody Rhodes]

Do you know you probably paid me the best compliment I ever got as far as I think you already know this. Ever as a wrestler, ever as just a wrestler and a person in business, you were being way too generous with the statement. But I stand by the fact that I still consider it my favorite compliment I ever received from one of my peers. There's sheets at TV each week with all the shows that say no comps. Like, don't ask for comp tickets. And coming out of WrestleMania 39 through WrestleMania 40, it was a long sheet. It used to be like two or three, and then it was a long sheet. And you thanked me for generally some of the uptick in business. And that was greater than anything you could probably experience in a character setting or in any setting. Because, again, the world does not revolve around one wrestler ever. But sometimes we feel it does. But still, you do want to look back. You don't want to be a wrestler who was so humble that you. You never. You never tipped your own hat. You never, you know, but the best thing ever, and Hunter told me this years ago, is nobody can put you over like somebody else. And I thought, oh, man, this guy who fricking changed our entire industry. For him to say that once, multiple times to me, was incredibly kind and super.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Well, I mean it. And with the greatest respect to the people at the top before you, when I came to the company like 10 years ago and was wrestling house shows, they were like 30% capacity, 40% capacity. And that was a good night.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And now it's 100% capacity. When that upswing happened was coincided with your arrival. And I don't think that's a coincidence. So I would like to tip my hat. Thank you. Cheers, man. Cheers.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, my God. My friends at Wheatley, they have this wonderful jingle. We will have you watch it and then I'll ask you to fill in one word. Vodka soda with Wheatley.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Wheatley so good I drink it. This song right here is for the red, white and blue.

[Cody Rhodes]

You got good taste and you drink like it too.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Wheatley is so good I drink it neatly. Wheatley American vodka.

[Cody Rhodes]

Wheatley so good I drink it neatly. If you could replace the word neatly, what would you say? Wheatley so good I drink it.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Wheatley is so good I drink it infinitely.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay. Okay. Nice. Nice. That. Yeah, that's well done. I. I'm glad. I think jumping right in is the way to go on that. We've had. Some people really get bogged down in that question.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I want to say one more thing. I've kind of. Recently. I don't want to say recently, but maybe like in the last four years, like shied away from any kind of podcast or interview or just anything kind of in public and try to just like kind of focus on what I love doing, which is wrestling. Yeah. And it's for like a multitude of reasons, but I feel like the main reason is that there's just too much noise and too much content and content for the sake of content. And it doesn't really mean anything. And like I've stopped wanting to contribute to that. But I feel like this is something that means something. Being able to speak to you. Oh, man. And I'm grateful for this opportunity to kind of like dip my feet back into like being in the public eye and kind of being open and being fergal. And I'm grateful for the opportunity.

[Cody Rhodes]

Thank you very. Thanks for choosing us to. Even though we chased you down. I thought that was part of the elusive.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

The first time I was like, I don't really want to do it. I'm busy that day. The second time I actually was busy.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'm glad. And if you do it and then you're like, no. Because too much content is a thing. Too much noise is a thing. Content for the sake of content is a thing. But, you know, don't be afraid. There's other podcasts. Stephanie's podcast is pretty good.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I've actually already spoken to Hunter about. I would love to do Stephanie.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. That podcast.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I like things that are real. I don't like things that are fake. I don't like going on the radio for five minute hit. I don't like going on a sit down daily morning show for oh, hey, see us tonight.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I want to do real things.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. I.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

This is real.

[Cody Rhodes]

You're. You're dead on. I oddly revel in the really quick hit I. I think because sometimes they're so generic and so heartless that there's like.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

It's.

[Cody Rhodes]

Some of it's fun for me in a way. Like you do a radio where a guy's reading your Wikipedia, you know, and it's just like, you know.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Do you know how many times I've got asked? Oh so Finn, we know you love lego based off one little 15 minute snippet we done in NXT 11 years ago.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'm so glad I didn't ask about Lego. But.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

But I do still love Lego. Right. And I. But I'm also 44 years old.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

And I'm married. So like I have other things I gotta do.

[Cody Rhodes]

Guys. I'm into other things, you know? Yeah. No, they're those. The quick hits can be.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Is there any other things you're into outside of wrestling?

[Cody Rhodes]

Outside of wrestling. I mean as a dad it's all. And two girls. It's all pretty much just princess stuff. Princess power on prime right now is a big deal. You gotta sing the song, do all that. She's really big into Harry Potter, but she's only seen the first movie. So that's gonna limit the conversations I can have with her. So I'm trying to push. Get into it a little bit more. But I mean that's it for me is the kids.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Right.

[Cody Rhodes]

I think the other things when not because they're. That becomes such a priority thing in your life that they become. You don't get them as much cigars is the thing I'm into other. And that you want to. You want to hear some old timer shit?

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

The guy who does my diet or training or whatever asks for 50 minutes of cardio.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

50.

[Cody Rhodes]

50. And he'll say you can just walk at an incline for 50. Walk at an incline. Okay. I walk in my neighborhood. It's roughly 45 to 50 minutes I've been. I do it. I now have just started smoking a cigar while doing it. Which I think is counterproductive to the cardio. However. Yeah. However. And just.

[Finn Balor (Fergal Devitt)]

I smoke weed while training.

[Cody Rhodes]

I don't think it would be a better ending than that.

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