“Heavy is the head that wears the crown.”

Clichés are clichés for a reason.

Cody Rhodes has learned this first-hand during his time thus far as the WWE Universal Champion.

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During the WWE Bash In Berlin 2024 post-show press conference, following another successful defense of his title against Kevin Owens, “The American Nightmare” spoke about how he “never guessed the amount of responsibility handed to you as WWE Champion.”

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“I dreamed…this was a big thing I wanted, to win the WWE Title and be the first Rhodes with the biggest prize in our game,” he said. “I can’t say it’s not been what I envisioned as much as, I could have never guessed, even with a lifetime of building up to it, I could have never guessed the amount of responsibility that is handed to you in terms of how you go about doing the live events, how you go about doing your press. Every piece of that, I thought I would have a lifetime to prepare for it.”

He continued, “I remember Roman Reigns actually said something to me in an interview, face-to-face, he was talking about the idea of ‘if.’ ‘If’ I was to get to the edge of the mountain and actually do this, that I’d be really tired. I don’t like the T word, at all. I don’t believe in it in our industry. I think the grind is a good thing. I can say there was definitely some truth to what he was saying. It’s a different type of responsibility. I’m still having the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. I really am. With every step you make, it affects the WWE. That’s just a lot of responsibility. If anything, I hope it’s made me better as, of course, a pro wrestler, but I hope it’s made me better as someone in the company of WWE and my business savvy, as Mr. Heyman always calls it in terms of navigating the future in pro wrestling once I officially hang up the boots, if that makes any sense.”

(H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.)