Kit Wilson

Summary

---

What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes

Guest: Kit Wilson

Date: May 6, 2026

---

Episode Overview

In this unfiltered and lively conversation, WWE Champion Cody Rhodes hosts rising Smackdown star Kit Wilson aboard the podcast bus at Buffalo Trace Distillery. The episode explores Kit’s journey from the UK indie scene to WWE, his evolving persona, philosophies on masculinity, and a wide-ranging array of topics from fashion to childhood gaming memories. Both men share stories from the road, reflect on lessons learned, and provide candid advice for up-and-coming talent, all while maintaining a fun, sometimes irreverent tone.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Meeting on the UK Indies & Early Career Connections

• Kit reveals his first encounter with Cody Rhodes: as a young wrestler two years into his career, Kit recalls their meeting during Cody’s UK indie run, including stories of wrestling Nick Aldis and getting medical help from Mickey James after an injury.
• Humorous anecdote: Cody had previously complimented Kit’s shoes, a moment echoed later by Finn Balor. (05:02)
• Kit’s dive gone wrong: Kit recounts splitting open his elbow during an indie spot, leading to a supportive backstage check-in by Cody and Mickey James. (05:41)
• Cody relates with his own rookie injury: Ricky Steamboat coming to Cody’s aid after a childhood accident at a WCW show. (10:41)

2. Indie Wrestling Realities

• Indie wrestling venues: Tales of wrestling at nightclubs, dressing in alleys (PCW story), and the family-show atmosphere of UK promotions. (12:09)
• Chaos at shows: Kit shares a story of a chaotic multiman match with Drew McIntyre and Noam Dar, where his attempt at a low blow is thwarted by Drew’s “behemoth thighs.” (13:47)

3. Hot Takes on Toxic Masculinity & Locker Room Culture

• Kit’s campaign against toxic masculinity: Kit describes his persona’s mission as promoting male vulnerability and dismantling rigid masculine tropes. (14:21)

  "I think toxic masculinity for me is almost a lack of vulnerability in males." – Kit Wilson (14:32)

• Cody applauds Kit’s honesty:

  "Cheers to a real answer." – Cody Rhodes (14:42)

• Locker room talk: Kit jokingly labels various peers (Matt Cardona, Nick Aldis, Randy Orton, Jade) as “toxic”—with humorous disclaimers that anyone can grow and become more vulnerable. (18:30)
• Kit describes his character’s approach: Blurring lines between real life and on-screen persona, he aims to create “a new culture within men” in wrestling. (15:11)

4. Inside WWE: Lessons, Opportunities, and Setbacks

• Missing the Royal Rumble: Kit opens up about the letdown of not being part of the match, using it as motivation, and making himself useful at the event (working with social teams, connecting with The Miz). (24:26)

  "You put yourself to use because what else was going to do?" – Kit Wilson (25:31)

• The importance of checkpoints: Both hosts discuss career “checkpoint moments,” the value of staying prepared, and using disappointments as fuel for future growth. (22:01)
• Proactive creativity: Cody praises Kit’s initiative, noting that Kit sent nine full PDFs of pitches/creative ideas—more than anyone else on the roster—which Cody shared with WWE creative. (29:46)

5. On Fashion, “Kit’s Fits,” and Personal Branding

• Fashion as authentic self-expression: Kit explains “Kit’s Fits,” his viral entrance and fashion-forward persona, rooted in his background (mom’s a seamstress, wife sews, personal love of clothes). (35:33)

  "Clothes is something I've always had an interest in… it feels like a shade of myself and a shade of the character that I can bring in through social media that kind of gives layers." – Kit Wilson (36:12)

• Cody scores high on Kit’s style rankings: Kit calls Cody “the 007 of the company.” (35:42)
• Kit’s real-life style: He’s just as put-together off-camera—“Catch me on a Wednesday and I’m dressed the same.” (36:41)

6. Personal Life: Marriage and Everyday Joys

• Double weddings: Kit talks about marrying his wife twice (first courthouse, then mountains), both wrestlers, bonded by shared experiences. (37:23)
• From cooking to cats: He describes their shared love of cooking, vinyl shopping at Target, and their family of cats. (37:15)

7. On Finding His Voice and Enjoying the Ride

• Current career crossroads: Kit feels like he’s “found his voice” and is entering the most exciting phase yet. (38:56)

  "I feel like this is the start of success, you know, this is the… the early days of what you'll look back on and be like, oh, that's when it clicked for him." – Kit Wilson (38:56)

• The ‘just say yes’ mentality: Kit recounts taking every opportunity, including last-minute improv with R-Truth in Chicago—even if it meant rescheduling Disney trips. (39:27)

  "I'm a yes guy anyway. I'm a yes boy." – Kit Wilson (39:44)

8. Pop Culture and Nostalgia

• Favorite SNL cast members: In a detour, both hosts rank SNL stars, with Kit championing Kyle Mooney and Cody appreciating the current strong ensemble. (41:06)
• Bond fandom: Kit’s favorite Bond is Pierce Brosnan, but he also appreciates Daniel Craig as he’s grown older. Cody reminisces about retro gaming and GoldenEye parties, establishing mutual 007 fandom. (43:42)
• Shared love of Zelda: The Triforce on Cody’s boots resonates with Kit, both for symbolism (power, courage, wisdom) and personal nostalgia. Cody even received a cease and desist from Nintendo over the design. (48:04)

9. WWE Goals and Dream Teams

• Immediate goals: Kit sees the US or Intercontinental Championship as realistic short-term targets post-tag-team run. (34:39)

  "I think capturing a United States championship, capturing an intercontinental championship… I think that's something I can make work." – Kit Wilson (35:00)

• Survivor Series dream team: Kit’s picks are playfully unconventional—his wife (valeted by their cats), Sami Zayn (“sacrificial lamb”), Elton Prince, The Miz as “The Marine,” John Cena, and wild card Umaga. (51:33–53:13)

10. Tag Team Inspiration

• Pretty Deadly’s influences: Biggest modern influences were The Revival and American Alpha, but Kit and Elton intentionally drew from classic teams like the Midnight Express to create their old-school meets new-school style. (54:03)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Kit on toxic masculinity:
  "I think toxic masculinity for me is almost a lack of vulnerability in males..." (14:32)

• Cody on fan overexposure:
  "I think what's gonna happen is an overload... to where fans just stop caring." (08:22)

• Kit on his main message:
  "Not only am I trying to get to the top. But I'm trying to get to the top of the message to create a new culture within men." (15:20)

• Cody’s career advice:
  "Do all the things that you're already doing. But make sure when the moment comes, you can execute." (31:23)

• Kit on finding his voice:
  "I feel like I found my voice. And I feel like this is the start of... success, you know, this is the... the early days of what you'll look back on and be like, oh, that's when it clicked for him." (38:56)

• Kit on WWE goals:
  "I think capturing a United States championship... I think that's something I can achieve. I think that's something I can do good with and I think that's something I can make work." (35:00)

• Cody on inspiration from video games (Zelda):
  "I thought the principles of the Triforce... of thinking and leaning towards your own wisdom, or what you've learned and applying it, of being ambitious and wanting to seek or be powerful... and then having the courage to do it." (48:04)

• Kit on “Kit’s Fits”:
  "It feels like a shade of myself and a shade of the character that I can bring in through social media that kind of gives layers." (36:26)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:41] Kit and Cody's first indie meeting, shoe story, Nick Aldis match
• [05:41] Kit’s dive injury, Mickey James & Cody tending backstage
• [14:21] Kit explains his views on toxic masculinity in wrestling
• [22:00] Discussion on “checkpoint” moments and lessons learned
• [24:26] Kit details missing the Royal Rumble and using it as motivation
• [29:46] Cody praises Kit’s initiative—submitting nine pitch PDFs
• [35:33] Introduction and explanation of "Kit's Fits" persona
• [37:23] Kit discusses married life as a wrestler
• [38:56] Kit on finding his voice as a WWE character
• [39:44] Kit describes accepting last-minute improv gigs as a “yes boy”
• [43:42] Bond fandom—a deep dive into 007 nostalgia
• [48:04] The story behind Cody’s Triforce/Legend of Zelda inspiration
• [51:33–53:13] Kit’s "Dream Team" picks for Survivor Series
• [54:03] Tag team influences: The Revival, American Alpha, and beyond

---

Conclusion

This episode offers a rare look at the journey of a WWE Superstar on the rise, through candid conversation, humor, and plenty of heartfelt wisdom. Kit Wilson distinguishes himself as a driven, fashion-forward talent, dedicated to shifting locker room culture and leaving a positive mark both in and out of the ring. Cody’s warmth, candor, and mentorship round out a free-flowing episode brimming with memorable stories, pop culture nostalgia, and advice for anyone pursuing dreams in or beyond the squared circle.

Transcript

[Kit Wilson]

With VRBoCare, help is always ready before, during and after your stay. We've planned for the plot twists, so support is always available because a great trip starts with peace of mind.

[Cody Rhodes]

If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H Vac and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all. All delivered with plenty of time left on the clock so your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sure, you can post your job to some job board, but then all you can do is hope the right person comes along. Which is why you should try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com Zip ZipRecruiter doesn't depend on candidates finding you, it finds them for you. Its powerful technology identifies people with the right experience and actively invites them to apply to your job. You get qualified candidates fast. So while other companies might deliver a lot of hay, ZipRecruiter finds you what you're looking for. The needle in the Haystack. See why 4 out of 5 employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. ZipRecruiter the smartest way to hire.

[Kit Wilson]

And right now you can try ZipRecruiter for free.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's right, free at ZipRecruiter.com Zip that ZipRecruiter.com Zip ZipRecruiter.com Zip. Hello, welcome to what do you want to talk about? I am the American Nightmare Cody Rhodes and this of course is a fanatics and WWE original production production Today I'm very excited. My guest here on the grounds at the Buffalo Trace Distillery, the home of Wheatley American Vodka, we have a smackdown superstar who is catching everyone's attention. The master, the founder, the originator of Kits fits. Of course, his opening intro to his music and all of that has become a viral sensation everywhere we go. You're going to learn a lot more about him over the course of this podcast. One of the UK's great standouts and of course just someone we are very, very glad to have here on. What do you want to talk about? Please welcome to the podcast. Kit Wilson. Cody.

[Kit Wilson]

Thank you very much. Oh no, thank you, thank you.

[Cody Rhodes]

You. You right There got something that looks quite special. What do we got?

[Kit Wilson]

I've got Wheatley's American own Runway martini.

[Cody Rhodes]

A Runway martini? Yeah, with a little bit of Wheatley American vodka. I have the American Mule. Cheers. Cheers to you, Kit Wilson. Cheers.

[Kit Wilson]

Now, I hear myself some catching up to do, so I might go heavy with this. That's all right with you?

[Cody Rhodes]

Yes, yes. And the lore, too. We film and put podcasts together here at the Buffalo Trace Distillery. And I think enough of our audience is aware that sometimes I might go too hard. And then those podcasts wonder. Yeah. So I saw a picture of them. Well, that's hard. Yes, that's. That is indeed. You just, I think, beat the record.

[Kit Wilson]

Oh, really?

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. If we. If we had a record board and somebody. Oh, my. And you knew where the backup was. So that is the definition of preparation. And as you know, that's part of excellence. Something along the lines, back to my guest, Kit Wilson. You said something to me yesterday. I did not know. And forgive me for not knowing. I. I did not know we met before, Kit Wilson.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Well, I sent you a photo. Did you recognize anything there? No, it's a very. I don't know if we can get up on the screen, but very different.

[Cody Rhodes]

We will.

[Kit Wilson]

Very different look. But yeah, on that indie run of yours. Yeah, that was in the era where I first started. So maybe. Maybe I'm two years into the business and I guess we've got some few funny stories. I wrestled someone from smackdown. Oh, wow.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay.

[Kit Wilson]

I wrestled England's own Nick Aldis.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, my gosh. So you wrestled Nick Aldis?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. I believe you were wrestling maybe Will.

[Cody Rhodes]

I defeated Will Ospreay. IW IPW uk.

[Kit Wilson]

That's the one.

[Cody Rhodes]

IPW uk. And this is where. So, okay, this is my.

[Kit Wilson]

That's my. That's where I trained. That's where I started. It was in Kent, England. I used to drive there.

[Cody Rhodes]

Wow.

[Kit Wilson]

Every week. That's where I kind of started. And, you know, I was afforded a lot of good opportunities, Nick Holders being one of them. But I think the story I'd like to tell that Cody is, yes, I go to the venue. I'm kind of. This. This is an era. I'm starting to get dressed up. You know, I haven't got a lot of money, but I'm starting to look good.

[Cody Rhodes]

Sure.

[Kit Wilson]

I come up to you, I shake your hand, he clocks the shoes. You give me a shoe compliment.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, wow. Okay.

[Kit Wilson]

Also, Finn Balor, at the time, Fergal Devitt, about a year later, complimented the shoes. I Think I started strong fashion wise. Yeah, but you were very cool. You know, it was only 20, 30 seconds, you know, quick one. But I have the match with Nicolas. It goes well, at least for me. I'm not sure what he thought about it. Well, that'll be another discussion.

[Cody Rhodes]

Nick's a little spicy.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, deservedly so. I look back now and deservedly so. Nick, I apologize, but I do a dive to the outside and we obviously, as indie wrestling says, no mats, so I actually split open my elbow and I got like four. Four stitches.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay.

[Kit Wilson]

I'm in the back getting medical care, but who is the one person that comes to check on me?

[Cody Rhodes]

Was it Nick?

[Kit Wilson]

It was Cody Rose. It was, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, wow.

[Kit Wilson]

And you know, I'd spoken to Nick. This isn't disparaging Nick. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mickey James was there actually, and she was. Mickey was sanitizing me. So shout out to Mickey.

[Cody Rhodes]

Wow.

[Kit Wilson]

But who pops his head in to check on me? It was you. And at the time, that meant a lot to me because I didn't know that you were aware that I was injured. But, you know, I probably watched it

[Cody Rhodes]

with great interest because I was following what Nick was doing and yeah, Nick and I would plug in with each other here and there. That certainly. You got medical care from Mickey James.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah. Nick was informing me about the match afterwards and kind of let me know where things maybe went askew and sure, what I could do wrong.

[Cody Rhodes]

What kind of dive was it?

[Kit Wilson]

You know, the one who did it? I used to do the one where if you're on the outside, I would run, hop over the turnbuckle and then flip over the turnbuckle to the outside.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, speedball, that one.

[Kit Wilson]

No, not speedball. Bobby Fish.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay, gotcha. Yeah, now I know.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, I did that. And I think that was a double header, that, that show.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

I think the night before I did the same dive. Kind of slightly cut open. The next day, fully open.

[Cody Rhodes]

Got it all the way then.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Didn't. Didn't really learn from it. No, no, the dive was needed.

[Kit Wilson]

I think I'm just starting to learn in this past year.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yes. Oh, no. And it takes. I mean, sometimes though, the decision to do it is the right decision. Believer. You know, like in terms of, hey, you gotta go use every now and then, you gotta go for it. Did this, you know, I'm putting. Putting you on the spot here. Putting myself on the spot. Well, was the house any good?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, it was, you know, I think. Okay.

[Cody Rhodes]

All right, all right.

[Kit Wilson]

I believe it was the casino rooms in Kent.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Maybe in, maybe in a place called Rochester.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay.

[Kit Wilson]

And they, they generally did quite a good, it was quite a good vibe. It was slightly nightclub adjacent.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

But they were always family shows. It was a good mix.

[Cody Rhodes]

Wow, that is wild.

[Kit Wilson]

Maybe not, maybe not as good for you, but good for me.

[Cody Rhodes]

No, I mean, for me it was about filling the room enough and you didn't want to when you did those and, and they carried, you know, your name or whoever, the big piece they were promoting or the person who had come from WWE or whatever New Japan or whatever it was you, you wanted it to do. Well, now we're really, I mean everything is, everything is documented. It's scary. Yeah, it's scary. And then just. It's scary, but it's also holds you accountable, I guess. I, I, I'm on like my, I'm in my head on some of the things as of late about every single piece of WWE right now and every wrestling company. Somebody needs to share and put it out there. And I'm, I think what's gonna happen is an overload and of information.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

To where fans just stop caring.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Yeah. There's a lot.

[Cody Rhodes]

Like, I watched the show. I like the show. I like this guy. I don't like that guy. I like her. I like, I don't need to know what was. How many people were in the seats.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Wild. I don't know who's keeping all these records, but I'm getting tired of what, what do we need this for? You know, like, what, who's this for? This seem like it's doing great, you know. Anyways, that's my, my bit.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, to that point, as a teenager, you know, as a massive fan. As a kid, I was a massive fan. I'm kind of every bit of content. I was, I was taken in, but I never, what never really clicked with me was the, you know, the Internet ratings, all these kind of slightly insider things. That was never relevant to me as a teenager because I just enjoyed what was happening on the show and I wanted to know more about the wrestlers. So I never really understood that side of it. You know, from a fan's point of

[Cody Rhodes]

view, I'm really in all the like IPS that I enjoy different shows. I like stuff like that. I never have any interest to me. And what's the behind the scenes. It actually kind of spoils elements for me, especially with like your bigger IPs, like a star wars or something like that. Yeah. You hear way too much on the build up. I Don't. I don't need to know. I'm going to show up and make my decision based on what I see. You know, that's. That's just me. I know. And I'm in the entertainment space, so perhaps everybody's different. I wanted to say, because you're talking about Mickey James sanitizing you, busting your elbow, four stitches. IPW uk.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

I actually UTC Chattanooga, which is a arena. I hope you run at some point in your career, maybe for a WWE Live event if they ever come back. That as a little kid, I used to go to WCW shows there. And I. I was. Had my backstage pass, which at the time I was so little, was like this giant.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Like a big Doug Dillinger shout out to him. He's the guy from Goldberg videos. He was like, my dad's Commissioner Gordon. He was so.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Like, I didn't realize he had a reputation online at all because I just knew him as an ex police officer from the Carolinas who took care of me and my sister and was awesome. But he used to give me this big credential and I'd go just find an empty seat. I didn't have a ticket, so I'd go find an empty seat and I'd watch the show. And I fell down the stairs and their wood stairs. I fell down. Like, not a full Cactus Jack rolling down the steps enough, but pretty close.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

And I had. Was missing school that morning, like, already to be there, so my mom's already. Probably not excited about it, but I cut under my eye and I went to the back and I was like, more embarrassed than anything, like, getting towels. Like, what do I do? I'm obviously like, I got to tell my dad he's working. But Ricky Steamboat, of all people set me down and patched me up. And I always thought that is wild. Looking back at it, he hadn't worked yet. He was probably in the main event. Yeah, I. That was just cool. Ricky, he just like, did a little cotton swab and looked at it and he kept, like, pinching it.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Check in. He's like, I don't think you need anything. You know, come back. And it was just really, really sweet. So there you are. You're getting patched up by Mickey James.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, I think that's the cool thing about, you know, once you get a certain deepness into the. The business, you look back and you. You have these kind of like checkpoint moments where you meet someone like that. You meet a Ricky Steamboat. Oh, my gosh, man.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

You ever Met the honky tongue man.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, I did a. There was. Maybe you did Preston City Wrestling.

[Cody Rhodes]

We don't talk about honky tonk man enough. Pcw.

[Kit Wilson]

Pcw Flutter. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

So it was. I don't mind shaming it. I'm not gonna. Shame. But like, kind of shame. He had me dress in the middle of winter in an alley. And then like we had like there was a room, you know, indie wrestling. There's things like these stories you'd never hear on any other production.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

But there was a room downstairs, like a party room. And I dressed in there and opened the locker. Like, open the doors to. Everyone can dress in here. It has heat.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Like, it has heat. And we have to go upstairs and wrestle in a tiny 16 foot ring in a club that you could literally jump from one middle rope to the next almost. And I remember a party showed up like, well, that's our space. So we're not mad at them.

[Kit Wilson]

They literally kicked you out.

[Cody Rhodes]

So they moved me and another wrestler, who I will remain nameless to the alley. So I'm dressing in the alley in the middle of winter and I thought this is one. Maybe take this one off my list here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So maybe not because the fans were great and I was paid well. I'm not, but yeah, that was, that was an interesting experience.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, they were, they were good promotion for me. Actually, it was, it was Chris Masters that put me forward for pcw in a weird turn of events. I got on the pcws. You know, I had, I had some good matches there. I, I had a fun interaction with Drew McIntyre there when he was on that indie run in the middle.

[Cody Rhodes]

Sure.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. I think he was doing a triple threat with Shah Samuels and Noam dar.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay, yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

NXT's known Dar. Noam, I think was doing the cruiserweight tournament at the time.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, okay.

[Kit Wilson]

Late from a plane. The match had started already and he's like 10 minutes out. So now we're at this point where Noam is going to come in during the middle of the match.

[Cody Rhodes]

This is crazy.

[Kit Wilson]

I'm in the bad guy faction with Shah Samuels.

[Cody Rhodes]

I've never seen anything like that.

[Kit Wilson]

No idea what's happening. We're panicking, we're panicking. No AMS entrance hits middle of the match. He gets in there, just gets involved. At some point, I know Drew's gonna be standing tall, the ref's gonna be down and I'm heading in.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

But again, I'm new, I'm nervous, I'm English, I'M scared. Drew's a behemoth.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Refs down. I see my moment. I slide in. I'm behind Drew. Low blow. I don't get to the blow. His thighs are so blocked.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

His thighs are so thick. My arm gets stuck.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Grabs my hand, turns around and goes, we're gonna need more than just you. Future shock. Ddt. That was my Drew.

[Cody Rhodes]

Did he mean that?

[Kit Wilson]

I felt like.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, it sounds like he did.

[Kit Wilson]

The fact that I couldn't get up due to the behemoth thighs, I felt that kind of got him some manly testosterone brewing.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's. Well, I mean, of course, it's a perfect time to talk about testosterone and bruin and all that, because you are right now, on a current campaign, defining and in dislike of toxic masculinity.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. What, what, what.

[Cody Rhodes]

What does. Where does that register for you in terms of give me an example of toxic masculinity? You don't have to.

[Kit Wilson]

Just.

[Cody Rhodes]

What's, like a cut that we can

[Kit Wilson]

go deep, but I'll try and keep it light. I think toxic masculinity for me is almost a lack of vulnerability in males,

[Cody Rhodes]

you know, as a true, real answer, actually. Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, good for you.

[Cody Rhodes]

Cheers to a real answer. Hey, thank you. Non pretender here.

[Kit Wilson]

I'm going.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah,

[Kit Wilson]

well, yeah, look, I. You know, we're all. We're always straddling the line of character and real life. Right.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

I think very much this era, them in the moment is very true to who I am. There's a lot turned up to 11. You know, I feel that. I feel like I'm in this thing.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

So I think toxic masculinity for males, particularly, even though females watch out, because you can suffer.

[Cody Rhodes]

You can suffer from it. You can suffer from doctor's magazine, but,

[Kit Wilson]

yeah, let's take a male, for example. You know, in life as humans, we have typical masculine traits and feminine traits. I think men struggle to be vulnerable and. And. And open up with those feminine traits. You know, they feel like they have to go big on those masculine traits because really, they're just kind of scared or vulnerable or shy or insecure. But the way to deal with that for a lot of men is to punch a hole through a wall. They don't know how to express themselves and express their emotions. Me, I'm a little bit feminine. I'm a little bit masculine, but I think that makes me a bigger man than Matt Cardona. I think that makes me a bigger man than anyone else on the roster. So not only am I trying to get to the top. But I'm trying to get to the top of the message to create a new culture within men. Oh, and create a better man in

[Cody Rhodes]

your efforts to create a better man. And you mentioned someone who you thought was toxic masculine as well, that being Matt Cardona. A combination of the two. Toxic chip chipped your tooth, I heard.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I went to the dentist that the week after. Yeah. No remorse. And I grew up on the woo woo, kid.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

You think I wasn't watching going, whoa, whoa.

[Cody Rhodes]

And here he is chipping your tooth.

[Kit Wilson]

I never thought was gonna get me.

[Cody Rhodes]

Now, in his defense. And we have to defend him because one time in this very room, I didn't. And he let me know. He says he kicked you, but the other side of your mouth is where the tooth was chipped. So he thinks it's not his kick that caused the chip tooth. But I'm. I'm of the thought, having been in the ring with him, it probably was.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, yeah, it was the other side. But I don't think you realize that's how bad the kick was. It comes here, clenches the teeth down, and it kind of vibrates.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. The undisputed WWE Championship title is mine, and I don't plan on giving it up. Lucky for you, you can climb the ranks and earn your very own championship titles in WWE Supercard. The new road to immortality features wwid, Evolve, nxt, smackdown, and Raw. As you challenge for titles each week, you'll gain and lose fans depending on your performance, allowing you to advance in your WWE Superstar career. The titles up for grabs correspond with the real WWE schedule. Like the real show, you need to prove that you are the best to stay on top of the leaderboard, download Supercard, Flash the QR code, and claim my WrestleMania 42 card 4 for free. Let me ask you because it seems like your. Your campaign here and your journey to do this, get the top of the message, as you said, that's a lot in a. Your job as a professional wrestler.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

So it almost seems you're doing a little bit of. You're doing far more than pro wrestling. If you're after all of toxic masculinity.

[Kit Wilson]

If.

[Cody Rhodes]

If that. If I could say so, you're. You're. It's quite ambitious.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. I think, hey, I think I'm leading the charge for this genre. You know, there's a lot of people fighting the good fight. You know, I'm an ally, of course, but I think I'm the one guy in professional wrestling I'm not the one guy, obviously, but in the current landscape we're in, in wwe, in Smackdown.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

I'm fighting the fight, you know, and I truly believe in the cause. I truly believe that all the men, whether you're toxic a little bit or toxic a lot, you could benefit from, you know, letting your feelings out. You could benefit from being more vulnerable.

[Cody Rhodes]

Nick, all this, our general manager, he toxic or not? Yeah, I knew you were gonna say that. Easy, easy, easy. Toxic. Okay.

[Kit Wilson]

And I've gotten there. And if we're going to be a bit real.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

The man has helped me a lot recently, but toxic. Oh, still toxic.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, you said it. You can be friends, you can like this guy.

[Kit Wilson]

But yeah, it doesn't mean you can't grow. Yeah. Because I think that's, that's a left hand lesson in life.

[Cody Rhodes]

What about like the current locker room leader and kind of the, the elder statesman? Not that he's elder at all and that being Randy Orton, I've seen moments where he's quite vulnerable.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, yeah, look, I, I don't know Randy or obviously as well as you. However, I, I saw him on the Steph's podcast, on Stephanie's podcast. I think he opened up a little bit there.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

And I, I'm sure he can attest to it. I'm sure he got tons of messages. Him opening up, opened up the door for so many people to open up themselves. I think that's the important message of this. That being said, toxic.

[Cody Rhodes]

It's so too toxic now. Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Toxic.

[Cody Rhodes]

All right, Can. And you mentioned a female. Can be. There can be. So I'll tell you one. Jade. Toxic. Probably. Right.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, she's been nice to me recently. She's been complimenting me and how I dress.

[Cody Rhodes]

So that can't be the only reason.

[Kit Wilson]

All right. Toxic.

[Cody Rhodes]

You know, like we like Jade. Jade's. We're, we're, you know, she's a special, special part of Smackdown. Yeah. But I'm trying to think of who's out there being vulnerable, being aware. You know, I've been doing a lot of Being transparent.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, I've been doing a lot of promos in the ring recently and I, I come after a lot of the males in the audience. But don't you think I don't see the women undressing me with their eyes.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Toxic.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's a toxic trait.

[Kit Wilson]

That's a dog.

[Cody Rhodes]

You're not a piece of meat.

[Kit Wilson]

No. And I, I say this all the time, but I get my kicks above the waistline. Right, sunshine? Yeah, that's a line I like to use.

[Cody Rhodes]

I don't know if I know what that even means.

[Kit Wilson]

I don't think you need to know.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, I got it as like, it's developing, but now. Okay. All right, great. Thank you for. There's a lot I'm learning as we go. Here's kicking back to IPW uk.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. How long have you been in the business in total? Because that was two years in, you said.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. I think roughly, I would have to look at the day I started in 2014.

[Cody Rhodes]

Damn.

[Kit Wilson]

I started training then. Yeah. But one person that I guess I would say early on was training me or did a few sessions with Zack

[Cody Rhodes]

Sabre Jr. Oh, my God.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, he's kind of a Kent guy, so he kind of popped in, did little bits with him.

[Cody Rhodes]

I was always surprised. A, he's taller than you think.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, he's really tall.

[Cody Rhodes]

But B, I might have asked you this backstage. I had my first independent match with him, and then I would wrestle him multiple times after that. Yeah, he was very, very stiff. He's not unsafe, but just. You knew you were in a fight.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

And I always kind of laughed looking at him like, who are you trying to prove? What are you trying to prove here, man? Like, he did the deal where I jump up on the second. He kicked the back of my foot. Yeah. Where I like. And I had a mark on the back of my leg for. He left. He left with me basically, for a couple weeks.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, I know. We got flash Morgan Webster with that as well. Yeah. I think he's a.

[Cody Rhodes]

He's out there getting people.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. But maybe that's toxic.

[Cody Rhodes]

Is that toxic? Or is he kind of one of those who can tie you up a little bit and wants to, like.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, I think let you know. I think that, too.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

I'm yet to wrestle him.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

I need a few training sessions. And again, this is. Yeah, this is so early in that, you know, he doesn't. He wouldn't see the man I am today, even though we've seen each other down the line. But I'd love to get in there with them.

[Cody Rhodes]

So you're. I mean, you're a baby in all this, man. I don't mean that in a. It's. It's different than what we've had on the podcast with.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Well, I. I thought that was very interesting coming into the podcast. I feel like you've had a certain. A certain level of guests who have achieved a lot or they've done with their career, and they're kind of hall of Fame level.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Whereas I feel like I'm unproven. And at this point I think that's a very interesting point to be at.

[Cody Rhodes]

Interesting.

[Kit Wilson]

You know, for me this feels like a check mark, a checkpoint, you know. Well, I go on to, to do these big things I'm gonna say I'm gonna do because I am. Yeah. I don't know how long it's gonna take me. It could be a year, it could be 10 years, but I'm here.

[Cody Rhodes]

Well, you said like unproven and you've already proven things. But unproven. Like what's a short term thing? What's something right out in the immediate future that you're looking at and going, huh, that needs to happen. We know Bullseye on toxic masculinity. You know, letting the world. I did something similar when I was doing dashing Cody Rhodes. I wasn't. I was out there trying to explained to men how to self groom.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

How to take care of themselves. You know. And I was, I was a villain for it. And I today, I don't think I.

[Kit Wilson]

How I get a bit of a mixed response. You know, I'm preaching a similar story to you. But yeah, there's a lot of people that are on my side. There's a lot of people that aren't. But I think that's the fun of it. Right.

[Cody Rhodes]

I. I'm very curious. What, what, what, what it is you want to do next. I'll, I'll, I'll swing you one. That is rather. You're probably going to go. What the. I was joking with you. Very. Just locker room jostling because I saw you at the rumble and you were leaving the show.

[Kit Wilson]

Yes.

[Cody Rhodes]

And I now this is unrelated to you. This part of my rant. I'll get back to the other part. I now am really on the kick of why are guys leaving the show early?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'm really genuinely not a fan of. This isn't on you. This was a. You're not even gonna wait till the middle of the show? What if someone gets hurt? What if you're needed? Carmelo Hayes. One time when the audio busted in overseas, I had done a whole promo with Randy that if fans know they saw a version from Keith Blomberg's camera on the floor because we had no production and while we were figuring out how to do that and not kill a live audience, Carmelo Hayes was ready and ran to the ring and did a little something. I don't even remember that those moments happen. So I've Been really on this kick lately about, where are you going? And, like, also a lot of the older wrestlers who are, like, in that grizzled phase, like, we're all grizzled at this point or we've all been grizzled. Like, cheer up. Yeah, cheer up. Like, you get back in there or hide it. You want to be. You know, like, I've left plenty of shows early. I'm guilty as well. I've also hidden it. I never did it right in front of somebody. Anyways, that's the end of my rant. But you. And then I. You pulled me aside and you told me why.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

And what I would say. And I was thinking about this. This morning. You're talking about you were not part of the Royal Rumble. And I think very much you wanted to be part of the Royal Rumble.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

What I told Carmelo Hayes, actually, here we are talking about him again, is the same thing I'm going to tell you now as far as. And we definitely going to have to get you another one maybe is. I would say that's the last Royal Rumble you're not part of.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Do you know what I do think that was again, we talk about these checkpoints.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Along the career, there was. You know, I don't like to go too behind the curtain, but there was a situation where I thought maybe there was, you know, maybe it was a sure thing. And then something happened, and then I wasn't. So that day, you know, I was kind of struggling with those emotions, which is okay because I'm not toxic.

[Cody Rhodes]

You're not toxic.

[Kit Wilson]

However, you know, I do value your opinion. I do value a lot of other people's opinions. You know, AJ talked to me that day as well. So the next day, I just came in, smile on my face, as I always try and do. But I made an extra effort on the day of the Rumble. Smile on my face. And I just worked in every which way I could possible, you know, not to put myself over, but I was doing the interviews. I was working with.

[Cody Rhodes]

You put yourself to use.

[Kit Wilson]

I put myself to use because what else was going to do? And I was working with the China Social teams. I do a lot with them. Nihau cheese.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, Nihau.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Well, I'm a fan, but okay. I think that day as well, I kind of won over the Miz, because the Miz kept on walking back. You know, he's prepping for his match, he's doing his things. But he saw me, like, two or three times in the middle of, you know, kind of pushing for things. And I think that was kind of the impetus on the Miz liking me.

[Cody Rhodes]

I mean, Miz liking you is probably a great thing.

[Kit Wilson]

I sent him a pitch, actually, two days ago.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, we're gonna talk. We're gonna talk about your pitches here.

[Kit Wilson]

Oh, really? Okay. I sent one to Mike two days ago. And, you know, I don't. I don't. I've only text him once before. He's Hollywood.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

And Cardona.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, my God, Very Hollywood.

[Kit Wilson]

Cardona told me. He doesn't reply.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. He replied to you, though, didn't.

[Kit Wilson]

I had a pitch and he replied. He complimented me, and he ended with awesome.

[Cody Rhodes]

Wow.

[Kit Wilson]

So, you know, a little buzz for me, though.

[Cody Rhodes]

He's out there living the gimmick, huh?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

But teenager in me miss such an incredible, incredible hard worker that I wish. I wish. There's so many new guys who are coming up who are really, really talented. And like, Carmelo is one who's seen it. There's a few who are starting to look around and go, oh, oh, I get it now. Like, oh, my gosh, like that. These are things that we have to do in addition to, oh, I'm really great, and I'm trained and ready to go. You know, like, Miz is special in that sense. But you mentioned what you're doing that day and what I said. I really feel that. But I feel it twofold as far as that's the last Royal Rumble you won't be playing part of. But the reason I say it is a. Your growth on television is. Is gonna happen, and your. Your checkpoints, you're gonna go through it. Don't. Don't stop at each one. You know what I'm saying? Enjoy trying to take a little moment with each one. But the reason I'm confident in saying that is because I don't know anything. I don't book anything. I'm not in charge of anything. I know it because I. I know who you are. Yeah, you're not gonna to go by. And I think, again, I don't want to put something out there that's not true. But one of the things. We'll talk about it, and if you don't want to share, it's totally okay. This is a story that I'm wondering if I should share my part of it. I wanted to go to the office to see what life would be like at the office at WWE hq. I had a career before as an executive vice president. I. Yeah, I. I Failed at it, but had some success along the way. But failed ultimately. Learned a great deal from said failure as we do. That's what we need. But I wanted to go, I said, oh, man, I'm, I'm gonna treat it like I'm going there for a job. Right.

[Kit Wilson]

Okay.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'll write a sample format. I'm gonna write a full tech format, times and everything. And not a dreamer one. I'll take what we have now.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

And put one together. I'm going to go and share that with Bruce Pritchard and the creative team and I'm going to sit with them and I'm going to go to cpg. I'm going to meet with Lee Fitting and his team. I'm going to meet these departments and not the hi, I'm such and such. Not that you're going to do that. Weeds. We can do that in three minutes. I'm going to actually know, what can I really do for you? Like community. What can I really do for you? Do I fit in anywhere? Because I, I, I got the bug. Yeah, okay. But anyways, I didn't want to be unprepared because if you came to me as a wrestler unprepared, I'd kick back or I'd look for things to, to kick back on. So in that setting, I was wanting to be ready. So I reached out to as many people as I could on the roster. I said, what's an idea for you? What's something you want to do? Some people called me. I got this. Some people didn't reply. Some people sent a nice little text with a perfect little simplified note. And I thought, okay, I'm ready. I'm ready. If Ed or somebody asked me a good question, just, I didn't want to be unprepared. I didn't want to waste their time. You didn't send me a text and you didn't send me a voicemail. I have in my phone nine full blown PDFs.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

PDFs that. Do you know every meeting I was in, I almost spoke about you every time because I couldn't even read through three of them at this point. Like, I was more stunned, which is the first thing I asked you. I said, who's seen these?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah, who's seen these?

[Cody Rhodes]

Today's been a lesson in terms of everyone I've talked to today, and, and this I don't know. You know, I don't want to dispense wisdom to you, but I'll tell you something. I learned as A. I was a overbearing, aggressively hard worker.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

But I would let you know, look at what I did. I should be rewarded. You know, I. I was one of those, which, in its way, is very annoying. Yeah. The hard work is great, but, man, like, everyone's process is different. What I learned through it all was none of it matters unless you sincere. You're sincere in your ability to execute. And what I mean by that is you can talk your way into any room.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Can you deliver when you're in the room? And I have just literally been so fortunate and happy to see. This was a few months ago. And within the few months, you're on tv. And Kit Wilson, just the song. The boys are singing it backstage.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. There's an energy about it, and there's a crowd that. That's starting to connect with it. That is the definition of doing the execution part. So my lesson, if you would be willing to accept, is do all the things that you're already doing.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

But make sure when the moment comes, you can execute.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Which I. I'm looking at you and know you can. So I, I, I'm excited to see where it goes. I mentioned you yesterday because Oba. Trick. Trick. Javon. I. I noticed with all three. Ooh. They're not just ready. They're. They're not gonna flounder. This. I was in a sink or squint swim culture of WWE when I came up. Yeah. Most would swim, but would swink a little and then come back up for air. And then it was. We watched it. We watched each other on tv. Like, oh, man. Then we watched Miss, for example, promo. That's still sailing.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

That changed his trajectory. He did it. He did it. We used to joke with each other. You just bought yourself four more months. Yeah. We used to make this joke and that picture of me, Kofi Punk Cardona. Like.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Matt Seidel.

[Cody Rhodes]

Right. Like, that picture is that group. And, and when I was talking about those guys yesterday, I mentioned you as well. I'm so excited. But that is the thing. I love. You don't do all the things. Nine PDFs. 18 PDFs, whatever it is. Just don't make that your reason ever for being angry. Do that work because you can execute. I would get mad. I'd get. I did everything. I went the gym. When they didn't go to the gym. I stayed through the whole show. I sat on the floor. I went through all that. And it became about kind of pocket watching and not about at the end of the Day you're in front of a live audience and they like you or they don't.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, right.

[Cody Rhodes]

And it takes time to figure out what they're into, but man, you're just doing it. 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 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. It's so cool to have you on here. To your point about we've had different type of guests and like the like so back to. And I hate to put you on the spot. Back to this as far as.

[Kit Wilson]

Here we go.

[Cody Rhodes]

What, what do you think that immediate goal is for Kit Wilson?

[Kit Wilson]

Well, thank you and I appreciate the wisdom and I'll take a lot more. I will say that because I'll, I'll just before I get into it, I'll say every time we speak, I feel like you say at least one thing that I just don't know, you know?

[Cody Rhodes]

Right.

[Kit Wilson]

I'm, I'm very much in a growth mindset right now. I feel like I'm on the precipice. But you don't know what you don't know. So you say something and it really opens my brain to a new way of thinking. So sure. Wisdom me up. I'll say that.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, okay. Yeah, I didn't know. Glad.

[Kit Wilson]

But, but in terms of next accomplishments, you know, I recently came off the tag team thing.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Pretty deadly. I love an Elton shout out.

[Cody Rhodes]

I love you shout out to Elton.

[Kit Wilson]

But we don't know what his future is, you know. So I've had to completely switch my mindset from.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Being in this company with my best friend and thinking that was. We were going to be lifers. Now I've fully switched over and I'm singles, you know, and I'm, I'm committed and I, I'm going to be the best I can be and that is going to be one of the best. So yeah, I think capturing a United States championship, capturing an intercontinental championship. Yeah, I think those are in the

[Cody Rhodes]

immediate crosshairs kind of.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. I think that's something I can achieve. I think that's something I can do good with and I think that's something I can make work. I also think that gives me a bigger platform to show who I am and my message.

[Cody Rhodes]

You. Those are great. Those are what probably you should be looking at. Not. And then in the back of your mind be looking at the biggest picture and you never have to share the biggest picture. Most wrestlers can look at each other and know what such and such wants. Right now there's a little moment with you kids. Fitz.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Tell me about kids. Fits.

[Kit Wilson]

You know, I like.

[Cody Rhodes]

And where is my fit stand? My fit today in terms of.

[Kit Wilson]

You know what, Cody, you are dressed to the nines. Yeah. You're very.

[Cody Rhodes]

You're the. I knew you were coming.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. You're kind of the 007 of the company.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's a dude. That's the biggest bond mark on the planet.

[Kit Wilson]

Oh, really?

[Cody Rhodes]

My gosh. Dude.

[Kit Wilson]

But let me say this guy.

[Cody Rhodes]

This guy. Yeah. Thank you.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Yeah. Honestly. And I tried to go a bit suit themes today for you, let me say that. But clothes is something I've always had an interest in. My mom's a seamstress, of course, and that inspires me. My. My wife does a bit of. Of sewing and it's something that I'm getting into.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

I'm still at the basic level. You know, I'm making my little.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Bags with a zip. I'm good with a zip now, but it's just something I'd like to get into and it's something that has an interest in me, something I care about. So. Something I. I wanna. It feels like a. A shade of myself and a shade of the character that I can bring in through social media that kind of gives layers, you know?

[Cody Rhodes]

Dude. Not to call you dude, but my discovery.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Is you're not a character at all. You're that well, that I. I feel like I didn't pick it up until. Just real, man. You are. You are. You turned up.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, yeah. Catch me on a Wednesday and I'm dressed the same. You know, catch me in Target. And I'm.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. What are you doing? What are you getting in Target? What are you doing in Target? I love a Target run.

[Kit Wilson]

I'm a big vinyl guy, so they do have them.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. Yes.

[Kit Wilson]

We'll always walk. They have a limited selection. They have a lot of the mainstream stuff, but I'll take that. So I just got a Charlie XX Weathering Heights Vinyl from Target. Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

But yeah, normally the food shop, you know, they just. They do a good ground beef that's like 96.4percent and you're making your own food? I love to cook. Yeah. Again, me and my wife love to cook. We're cooking all day long. Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

How long have you been married?

[Kit Wilson]

We got married twice. Let me say that.

[Cody Rhodes]

Okay. Okay. So double marriage.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. How long did we go here? We were. We were in NXT UK together.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, I met her on the Indies. She was wrestling in Japan. Shout out legend. Stevie.

[Cody Rhodes]

Shout out double marriage.

[Kit Wilson]

And then we were in NXT UK together. Me and Elton got offered to come to nxt, so we moved, but I moved without her. You know, at this point, we're engaged, so I didn't. We didn't really know if she was ever gonna get asked to come to nxt, so we got. We did a little Orlando courthouse marriage.

[Cody Rhodes]

Solid.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. And I think you'll find a lot of their fellow roster members have actually done a courthouse marriage. I've seen a few similar pictures.

[Cody Rhodes]

Usa, baby.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Get you in. Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

And that was there August 1st. I loved it. Yeah. It was a fantastic. But when. Then she did get asked to come to nxt. She had a stint at nxt, and obviously we're living in a thing. So then we went to Vegas and we got married in the mountains. It was beautiful. And that was. Oh, you get me in trouble here.

[Cody Rhodes]

No, don't worry about it.

[Kit Wilson]

September.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. You don't have to remember.

[Kit Wilson]

Third.

[Cody Rhodes]

Wow.

[Kit Wilson]

But the year is a bit muddly.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

20.

[Cody Rhodes]

You see, the date is fine.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. September.

[Cody Rhodes]

He knew the date.

[Kit Wilson]

September.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'm a September 12th.

[Kit Wilson]

Oh, okay.

[Cody Rhodes]

You knew the date. That. Just know the date.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah, you're good. But we've been together seven years. I love her. We've got. You're a dog guy. We've got cats.

[Cody Rhodes]

Really?

[Kit Wilson]

I'm a big cat guy. The kitty cat.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, but.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, but just to jump back to the previous thing. Yeah. I think the reason this hits so hard for me in terms of character and presentation on television and my future success is I think that I've hit something that feels right to me. I feel like I've found my voice. I remember saying that to you on text maybe a month ago or something. I feel like I found my voice.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

And I feel like this is the start of. I thought this is the start of success, you know, this is the. The early days of what you'll look back on and be like, oh, that's when it clicked for him. That's when he grows.

[Cody Rhodes]

Most important question I'm gonna ask you, because I think you're right.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Are you Enjoying it?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, I'm loving it. Yeah. Good. I'm loving it. I To speak to you saying just say yes. I know you recently said that to a group of us.

[Cody Rhodes]

I was hot, dude. I was hot, man.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, I was on the tre.

[Cody Rhodes]

Just do the appearance, guys.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, I was on the treadmill.

[Cody Rhodes]

Please.

[Kit Wilson]

I was on the treadmill at home on Tuesday morning in my garage. I was walking. I was getting my steps in. Me and my wife about to go to Disney. But I get a call and they say, can you fly to Chicago tonight to do some improv the next day with R. Truth? And you bet I said yes.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. Because I think my exact words are a challenge you not to say no.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah. And I'm a yes guy anyway. I'm a yes boy.

[Cody Rhodes]

I now am mad, though, that you missed this day. We owe you a day at Disney with your wife.

[Kit Wilson]

She loves Disney and we go a lot. I'll say that. Yeah. Yeah. And Matt's trying to get me to go. I'm trying to go with Chelsea. I'm not trying to go with Matt.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, yeah. Chelsea's a better. A better. But don't we just. We used to go all the time, and I had a child, and then he's like, oh, the place.

[Kit Wilson]

Child ruined it.

[Cody Rhodes]

Four children in the first place, dog. You see it through their eyes, man. Like, come on, dude. But yeah, he. He's not. We don't see each other like that anymore.

[Kit Wilson]

Really. I think we're on the same path.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. We needed the conversation that him and I just had. It's been a minute, so. Really? Yeah. Yeah. You went did improv with Truth?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. So we did a Second City in Chicago. Geez. Yeah, we did some training. Yeah. And I'm a big. Obviously I'm English, so I didn't have these channels growing up, but I love 30 Rock as a teenager, which got me into SNL. So I was watching SNL on YouTube and then. So I've always kind of been aware of it and known it. And then. So as soon as they said, you want to do Second City improv with

[Cody Rhodes]

our Truth, you got a favorite SNL cast member.

[Kit Wilson]

Oh, I love Carl Mooney. Carl Mooney.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Beck and Carl. Them together.

[Cody Rhodes]

Kyle is part of Street Fighter.

[Kit Wilson]

Oh, was he?

[Cody Rhodes]

Yes, he is. Yes, he was. He was on. So we didn't cross paths on the set. Right. But what was happening on the set was a lot of heavy hitters in their fields.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

50 cents Roman reigns like a lot of heavy hitters. So every weekend was an event. Hey, the director will be making dinner for the cast. Hey, the lead would like you all to come to this club. Hey. And it wasn't. You weren't directly texting. I thought, I'll take it up a notch and do a yacht. Let's go out on a yacht. Also, I'm in Australia. I don't get to see this at all. Yeah, I'll actually get to see a little of it. So I send the invite out. She's asking. Her name was Jackie. She said, who? I'm saying, everybody. Like, as many people as we can get on the boat. The cast, whatever. And they were saying, well, do you make sure you invite Kyle? But we never crossed paths. So I was like, what is he in the movie? Like, and then he's. Yeah, he's obviously in the movie. Whatever. But that was my one little interaction with him, and he killed it in the stuff he did. I'm not trying to give anything away, but he is so talented. And what a great pick, by the way.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. No, So I. I watched Beck and Carly and Good Neighbor. They were. Their. Their sketch group was Good Neighbor. I used to watch them on YouTube. So then it went to SNL. I was. I was hyped.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

So Carl Mooney. Beck is really big. Do you have a favorite? Because I've got a few.

[Cody Rhodes]

Mine are old. Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Because I'm a certain generation.

[Cody Rhodes]

Norm is like, Like, Mine are, like, old, but it's not. It's. It's. It's not the nostalgia as much I'm good for. I'm trying to think from a new perspective because I still watch pretty consistently.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, I like Mikey Day. Yeah, Mikey Days.

[Cody Rhodes]

That might be. I might be right there.

[Kit Wilson]

And he doesn't really. Kind of. Yeah, he's kind of quite subtle in his. In his performance. You know, he doesn't.

[Cody Rhodes]

Colin. I mean, they're. It's a great. They got a great crew right now.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, they really do. I think they're hitting.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, I was gonna. Because I was Kyle for SNL. Only a hard right here. Only because you mentioned 007 and you being, you know, I. We consider anyone from England the expert on MI6 and. And the. The Bond program. And we. We also. Most Americans probably think it's real, and hell, it might be real. What. What's. Do you have a favorite Bond?

[Kit Wilson]

Oh, that's a great question. So I think growing up, you know, my generation, my first, like, video game console was PlayStation 2 and GameCube, but I was just Night Fire.

[Cody Rhodes]

Night Fire. Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

I was just young enough to have like my older brother and my best friend's older brothers have the N64.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

So I got a lot of time with the N60.64 in. So GoldenEye.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

So I think when I picture. When I picture 007, I think he looks like Pierce Brosnan.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

However, I think growing up a little bit more, I start leaning towards Daniel.

[Cody Rhodes]

Pierce Brosnan was my bond. I like all the bonds.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

But Pierce Brosnan was my bond. And I remember telling my dad that one time my dad went off on.

[Kit Wilson]

Who's he going for?

[Cody Rhodes]

Sean Connery.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, that's my dad.

[Cody Rhodes]

And I was like, well, I haven't seen these movies. Like, it's. I just want. This is the first one I've ever seen. Like, I don't know the lore. And like Roger Moore's are all. They're all incredible in their own. In their. Their own way and like currently where things are now. My gosh. As far as the series goes. But yeah. Brosnan. 007. Four players playing. That's. That's your older brother. So you said like, that's older.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah, that's my older brother. Yeah. My. We had like best friends that were kind of how your old brother as well. It was them as well.

[Cody Rhodes]

We used to do these things at my house where we would play old retro. They shouldn't be, but they're retro consoles.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

So we do LAN parties. But this was like three years ago.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

My idea of a fun night. I don't like to go out. I don't if I'm very homebody. My idea of a fun night is to do. Everyone comes to my house and I plug in four OG Xboxes to each other. Four TVs. Because I have an empty room where we just put them back to back and we do a LAN party. This is. So I'm saying this and I'm regretting

[Kit Wilson]

everything and what we playing.

[Cody Rhodes]

And then like rgb. Like in terms of. We'd also have an Old School 64 to upscaled. I ordered this thing off. This is so ridiculous. I have so much equipment in just boxes. But we play Halo OG Halo, which was always a blast. And you get. You have to get four xboxes for this. So the amount of just hardware.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Now. But we were playing double oh seven. We're playing goldeneye right when we would do it. Mario Strikers is another great. So we're playing goldeneye and there was a lot of young people in the group to see a young person hold a Nintendo 64 controller. They're, they're offended and they don't know how to work it.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Like that in the center, like the free. They don't understand how you're supposed to hold this. I'm like, well, technically you hold it here, but for this game. And it's really wild to see someone flat out not be able to play goldeneye because they don't know, like, well, how's he looking up and how. Like it's auto aim. I don't know if you remember auto aim.

[Kit Wilson]

Like, yeah, slightly.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. The whole thing. Or yeah. Karate, you know?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, that's the chop.

[Cody Rhodes]

You get up behind somebody. Gosh, that's a time. But Pierce Brosnan's your bond, huh?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, Pierce my bond. And, and to go back to the pictures, one of my pictures was a 007 esque.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. I really felt like I could. I felt something there to channel.

[Cody Rhodes]

In WWE, every road leads to one place. WrestleMania. And every journey starts on the road to gold. Now that journey comes to life with wrestlemania road to gold only at fanatics casino. The game features 20 WWE Superstars from Bianca belair and Ria Ripley to Seth Rollins, John Cena and me. Get your money in the bank or win the royal rumble and elimination chamber. With bonuses every step of the way, every reward brings you closer to the biggest stage. There is the. This is wrestlemania road to gold. And it only lives at fanatics casino. Must be 21 and over. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler not available in all states. See fanatics casino app. Where were we? We're talking about Bond, I think, I

[Kit Wilson]

think we had like things on the go.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah, that's the thing on our show, by the way. We, we, we. We're all over. We're all over the map.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, I guess I, I, well, I had, I had a little bit about. I did want to talk a little. I don't know how doing time, but there was a little bit I want to talk about. About your boots early on.

[Cody Rhodes]

My boots.

[Kit Wilson]

Your boots. Yeah, I, I was a Cody Rhodes fan instantly for one reason only. Me and my best friend at the time, Matt Anderson. Shout out.

[Cody Rhodes]

Shout out to Matt. A lot of shout outs today, by the way. Wifey, Elton, Maddie.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah, we go. Yeah. There was a triforce on the boots.

[Cody Rhodes]

There was on my finger. No, that's right there.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, so, so I guess this, this is my question.

[Cody Rhodes]

I live that dog.

[Kit Wilson]

Obviously. Yeah,

[Cody Rhodes]

yeah. They don't need to know now. They do. Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

You know, I, I love Zelda growing up As a big Nintendo guy. Yeah, I've weaned off. I'm not really a video game guy now.

[Cody Rhodes]

Coolest guys come on this podcast. Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

But you had the trifles in your boots, obviously because you, you like Zelda, but in terms of the character. Yep. Did you think of a reason or did you think.

[Cody Rhodes]

I thought.

[Kit Wilson]

I like this.

[Cody Rhodes]

I thought the principles of the Triforce, which are power, courage and wisdom. And for those who don't know, Zelda's the wise one, obviously Link is the one who's got the courage and power is Ganon. They make up the three parts of the Triforce. That's the whole deal. And I just liked the idea of I. Of thinking and leaning towards your own wisdom or what you've learned and applying it, of being ambitious and wanting to seek or be powerful if you can in a world that's competitive, of sports and sports entertainment and then having the courage to do it. Here you are, you're taking a dive, you bust your elbow. You're decided to take the dive the next night and you bust your elbow even further. I thought it was just applicable. I also got a cease and desist from Nintendo.

[Kit Wilson]

No.

[Cody Rhodes]

So it was very kind. I wasn't.

[Kit Wilson]

They were polite.

[Cody Rhodes]

They weren't. They weren't. They weren't coming after anybody.

[Kit Wilson]

I'm not friendly.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. I'm not the first guy to have the. The Triforce, but yeah. Do you. So you liked the Triforce?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, that, that. And at that age, I was playing Zelda, you know, I was deep in Wind Waker or maybe Twilight Zone, maybe

[Cody Rhodes]

I'm not sure what era Twilight Princess is.

[Kit Wilson]

Twilight Princess, Sorry. My.

[Cody Rhodes]

No. It's such a great. People don't realize it's wrestling is. Twilight Princess is a story about wrestling. Fans like what they like and when they get vocal enough, whole worlds can change. And I know this firsthand. My whole world changed because of fans being vocal enough. Wind Waker is a great game. They just weren't ready for how it looked.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

They weren't ready and they had grown up enough of the series that they wanted. Wind Waker is a great game. They had wanted. Where's our edgy Zelda? Where's Link? Where's like he's growing. Where is it? So here comes Twilight Princess and I believe it's the best selling. I know. Yeah. Yeah. I mean probably by breath and those have from that era, the linear 3D models. But it's an incredible game. Twilight's great.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Well, at the time, yeah, I was obviously the biggest wrestling fan. But video games were a big thing for me as a teenager. So to see that it was just a small little link to make me go, okay, Cody's my guy. So from that era I was in.

[Cody Rhodes]

Wow. I didn't know that.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

I mean, I'm out now. I played Breath of the Wild in Covered, but it's. It's getting a bit complicated now. I'm kind of getting. Oh. Even I'm not old, but I'm getting older to the point where I'm strong.

[Cody Rhodes]

No, dude, I'll tell you. I'll tell you something I shared with my digital friend. He said I was telling him I play Ghost of Yotai or Yote.

[Kit Wilson]

Yes.

[Cody Rhodes]

I'll play it. Get super involved over, like, the course of a night. And then I go to work.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

So then I come back two weeks later, and I pick it up, and I don't even know which direction, like, how to go. And I thought, like, I'm never gonna beat this. And when people are like, it took you six months. Yeah, it did. I'm not. I'm playing this in drips, guys. You know, we like to play this game here on. What do you want to talk about? Which, by the way, I. I'm gonna go ahead and say it. The room can hold me to it. We. We're gonna look for a part two with you.

[Kit Wilson]

Yes. Well, I'll take that, because you brought

[Cody Rhodes]

up the point about being at a certain point in your career and checkpoints. I'd like to be there on whatever the next checkpoint is and the checkpoint after that and all that. You have a. You have a home here on this pod if you. If. If you are so inclined to join us. Anyways, we play this game here. Making up myself, Wheatley American Vodka, who's provided this awesome mule in both of these Runway models. I consider myself Wheatley American Vodka, the American Dream Team. I'm going to ask you, what's your dream team? And I'll make it easy.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Survivor Series, War Games, but we've had everything. Animals, doesn't matter. It's your dream team. Who's going with you towards your future checkpoints?

[Kit Wilson]

And are we doing. Is there a certain number?

[Cody Rhodes]

You know, it's sometimes easier to say four or five, but just. Just go from the heart.

[Kit Wilson]

Go from the heart.

[Cody Rhodes]

And they can be toxic if you want them to be. But I. You know.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, we need a few sacrificial. Sacrificial lambs.

[Cody Rhodes]

Honestly. Smart booking right there. Yep.

[Kit Wilson]

Sacrificial.

[Cody Rhodes]

Couple Guys who can take the loss. You know what I'm saying? Yep.

[Kit Wilson]

Well, maybe a sacrificial. Sam. Sami Zayn. Let's get him on there. Wow. Nice and early.

[Cody Rhodes]

Damn, dude.

[Kit Wilson]

I think he can run his mouth and let's get him out. But he's.

[Cody Rhodes]

Your dream team is uniquely booked. Okay. Sami Zayn.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. I will take my wife who gets valed by the four cats.

[Cody Rhodes]

I love that.

[Kit Wilson]

I love it. Beautiful.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah. What an image. Yeah. What an image.

[Kit Wilson]

An image. Yeah. And I'll take Elton Prince to pretty. Let's get him back.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

Who else do I want? Maybe I'll take. Do you know what? I will. I'll take the Miz, but not the Miz. The Miz from the Marine. Free the character. I want the Marine.

[Cody Rhodes]

Do you know what the character's name was?

[Kit Wilson]

I couldn't tell you his name.

[Cody Rhodes]

Let's look that up. Ms. From the Marine 3.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

Your wife valeted by the cats. Sami Zayn. And. And your partner.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. And maybe. Let's go. Oh, you know, actually, yeah, I grew up a massive. John Cena was my guy.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

John Cena was my guy. But I think someone else who I always think about and I constantly kind of think about the memories I had as a child and kind of perfected those memories. Umaga.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, wow.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Umaga. John Cena, Royal Rumble. My favorite.

[Cody Rhodes]

That's a great team.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. So I'm getting Umaga on there. Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

So we've got Umaga, we've got Sami Zayn, we've got your partner, which is your wife. We got the Cats and miss, but not the Miz. Sergeant.

[Kit Wilson]

Sergeant Jake Carter.

[Cody Rhodes]

Sergeant Jake Carter. That's a great team.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

And I want to ask you one question about Pretty Deadly.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

I watched Pretty Deadly while I was injured because I was asked to do a little, you know, side. Hey, what do you see over here? And I watched. Was there a tag team that inspired what you guys were doing? Because what it gives, and sometimes on the surface what it gives is almost insulting if you really think about it. But what it gave was very Midnight Express, very old school tag team meeting. Modern as Arn Anderson say the high tech stuff.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah.

[Cody Rhodes]

What. Was there a team that inspired what you were doing?

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Do you know what I think so the. The big team that kind of started off was the revival. They were the big one. And I'm a massive American Alpha fan. And.

[Cody Rhodes]

Oh, great.

[Kit Wilson]

The American Alpha NXT run, I think is 10 out of 10. I think it's flawless. That's my Favorite tag team, apart from the. Not my favorite tag team. Just because lengthwise they didn't get that longevity.

[Cody Rhodes]

Well, shout out to both those teams because you being so young, those teams had an impression on you.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. Jason Jordan. Incredible. Like, they were firing as I was like starting wrestling.

[Cody Rhodes]

Sure.

[Kit Wilson]

As we were forming the team. So it was incredible. But yeah, the revival got us to the midnight and then all those classic teams. So we very much had an old school approach and an old school feel that we wanted. We wanted to capture.

[Cody Rhodes]

Yeah.

[Kit Wilson]

So the revivals about as the revival and American Alpha is about as modern as it goes. But that we were going back. You know, we were going back.

[Cody Rhodes]

What's all this new. And then put the new stuff in it and then. Yeah. So then it becomes its own thing.

[Kit Wilson]

Exactly right. We were trying to capture that. And I like to think. I like to think we did it. I still think there was so much more to do. Maybe one day we'll get there.

[Cody Rhodes]

Sure.

[Kit Wilson]

Yeah. But yeah, that was that

[Cody Rhodes]

we. The American Vodka WWE and Fanatics Original Production this right here is a little jingle. Watch in Moscow always get the Mule Vodka. This good is an American jewel. American commercial. Wheatley so good I drink it neatly. If you could replace the word neatly with any word, what would it be?

[Kit Wilson]

Wheatley so good I drink it weekly.

[Cody Rhodes]

It's great.

[Kit Wilson]

Bang, bang, bang.

[Cody Rhodes]

Cheers to you. You've drank. That drank us out of. Thank you. And ladies and gentlemen, what do you want to talk about? Kit Wilson. There it is.

[Kit Wilson]

Thank you again, dude.

[Cody Rhodes]

Thank you. That was so, so fun.