Cody Rhodes recalls Undertaker pep talk, says WWE has ‘a lot of good leaders’

Cody Rhodes believes the WWE roster has a lot of good mentors helping to guide them behind the scenes.

During a Thursday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Rhodes was asked if anyone in WWE gives pep talks to the entire locker room like you would see in sports. Rhodes said that doesn’t usually happen, but The Undertaker did speak to everyone about the importance of WWE Raw moving to Netflix when that happened back in January.

“I think the last time we had somebody talk to the whole group was Undertaker talking about Netflix Raw and just what that meant, which was really great because some of the younger ones might not realize who The Undertaker was as an actual in-ring performer,” Rhodes said. “And for him to explain how big of a deal this was, that this was happening, that was one where you wanted to run through a brick wall.”

Motivational talks in WWE usually happen on an individual basis, with Rhodes listing Paul Heyman, Michael Hayes, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque as some of the leaders who will encourage talent.

“The other guys who will do it, who are more subtle, it’s not a pep talk — it’s more of a pull you aside and hit you with something that’s like, ‘Whoo,’ is, again, Mr. Heyman. He doesn’t take me as one of his guys, I usually am fighting his guys, but when he says something, it matters. And Michael Hayes, Michael Hayes is one that — he’s just a wild, he’ll hit you with something or pull the curtain back and show you all of the people and where they are. Just, again, don’t want to take any of this for granted… Those are good pep-talk guys. Hunter’s good too. Now that I think about it, we got a lot of good leaders on the squad, for sure.”

Rhodes could one day be one of those influential voices in WWE’s behind-the-scenes leadership. He told ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike last month that he would love to be considered as an option to take over for Levesque years down the road whenever Levesque is done being WWE’s Chief Content Officer.

This Friday night on SmackDown, Rhodes & Randy Orton will take on Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed in a tag team bout. It’s part of the build to Rhodes — the WWE Champion — facing World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel: Perth on October 11 to determine the 2025 Crown Jewel Champion. Rhodes is looking to repeat after defeating Gunther at Crown Jewel last year.