Cody Rhodes says the Cross Rhodes he hit on Seth Rollins at WWE Battleground 2013 is the greatest he has ever executed, crediting Rollins’ skill level and a unique floating motion he has never been able to replicate.
Speaking to ESPN about the biggest moments of his WWE career, Rhodes walked through the context of the match: a tag team bout alongside his brother, Dustin Rhodes, against The Shield, with their WWE careers on the line.
“I love that it was in Buffalo, New York. I have a couple of unique hometowns that aren’t hometowns. Atlanta is where I’m from, but Buffalo is one, Philly is another. Buffalo, because of this match, there was even someone who said backstage, do you think they’ll care about the road story or Dusty, because he was more of a Florida, Georgia, Carolinas guy, and it was Michael Hayes who actually replied. He said, ‘they’ll care about Dusty anywhere,’ and this is it. The last Bionic Elbow right there. The last one in a big setting on TV.”
Rhodes described how his father’s involvement became the turning point that brought the crowd fully to its feet before the finish.
“Me and Chicken, my older brother, had wrestled for 10 plus minutes and we were — the crowd was moving and they were rumbling, but they weren’t up yet, and then dad takes his hat off and hits that elbow and the people’s, that’s where they first came up. Then we rode that all the way to the best Cross Rhodes I ever hit, and this is it right here, number one on the list.”
He admitted he has never been able to explain or reproduce the exact mechanics of how it happened.
“I’ll never know how we got the floating. I’ve tried again. There was something about how our feet were and Seth’s skill level being one of the greatest of all time. I’ll never know how we floated into that Cross Rhodes, but that’s the number one on the list.”
Rhodes is the current Undisputed WWE Champion. He retained the title against Gunther at Clash in Italy on May 31.