FULL SEGMENT – CM Punk and Cody Rhodes’ war of words: Raw, Jan. 22, 2024

See the uncut, electrifying back-and-forth between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes as they gear up to finish their stories by winning the Royal Rumble this Saturday. Catch WWE action on Peacock, WWE Network, FOX, USA Network, Sony India and more. #WWERAW
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[NOISE] >> I was gonna say before we start let’s take a minute to enjoy this moment, you and I have been on very different paths to get here. [NOISE] >> Saturday night it all changes, Sunday morning I hope we’re still friends. But for right now, let’s just enjoy this moment. [NOISE] [NOISE]

>> More specifically CM Punk. [NOISE] >> What do you wanna talk about? [NOISE] >> I wanna talk nabout your dad. [NOISE] >> And I don’t know if you know this story, I’ve never told it, I know they don’t know it. In 2007, your father calls me on the telephone,

And he tells me he’s sending his youngest son, Cody to Ohio Valley wrestling to start his journey as a professional wrestler. And he tells me, [NOISE] >> I want you to keep an eye on my kid. And at the time, I don’t know if I was the guy for the job.

And I certainly didn’t know you yet, I wasn’t aware if you would need a guardian angel. I didn’t think you did, but when the American Dream asks you for a favor, New Orleans, you say yes. [NOISE] >> It wasn’t a hard job, I stayed out of your way.

You didn’t get into any trouble that you couldn’t talk your own way out of. You didn’t fall into the same vices I saw a lot of our contemporaries do. [NOISE] >> And I watched you grow from a preliminary wrestler into this bona fide, Main Event championship caliber superstar that stands before me today.

And it might sound a little bit condescending coming from me, but you know me. I am proud of you. [NOISE] >> I bring this up, I bring this story up, I bring your father up. Because on Saturday, I feel like I’m breaking a promise. [NOISE] >> In the Royal Rumble when the bell

Rings, if me and you cross paths, I’m not gonna be looking out for you, I’m going to be looking for you. [NOISE] >> I’m gonna do what I have to do, I’ll punch you in the face, I’ll throw you over the top rope. Because CM Punk is gonna win the Royal Rumble and

He’s gonna go on to Main Event Wrestlemania. [NOISE] >> You’re not alone in that feeling of you being someone who is talking to me but thinking about him. I work with countless legends, and luminaries, and dignitaries in our industry. Freebirds, Michael Hayes, Bruce Prichard, Triple H, even Mr. Heyman.

That when they see me, they can’t help but see the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes. [NOISE] >> It’s a very large shadow, but I think you know well that I have done everything in my power since I left here. To not just be in the shadow, but to be the light in the shadow

To subvert expectations on my own last name and be my own man. You’re talking about OVW, you’re not lying. I showed up to OVW, folk style wrestling experience only. No matches under my belt, a complete nepotism hire. And there you were, CM Punk, who had toiled on the independent scene for

Ten years, who had made a name for himself. You could have treated me poorly, and you did not, you treated me like a peer. And after that, we became friends. And that’s what makes all of this so bittersweet, [NOISE] >> Is because in the Royal Rumble, [NOISE] >> There are no friends. [NOISE]

>> What about Sunday morning, Cody? I know there’s no friends in the Royal Rumble, I’ve been in more than you have. [NOISE] >> But what about Sunday morning? Because I can separate business from personal, can you? Because I wasn’t born into this business, you very much were.

You grew up in this business, personal to you is this business. You were the son of one of the most legendary professional wrestlers of all time, one of the greatest. [NOISE] >> And I said to start this all off, you and I have traveled very different paths.

I didn’t have a famous dad, when you showed up to OVW, other people saw Dusty, I saw Cody. I didn’t see necessarily a nepotism hire because where everybody saw that you were born on third base and you were afforded all these great things.

And you had the head start that I didn’t get because I had to scratch, and claw, and fight my way to get to where I was, I saw the burden of your last name. I saw how hard it was gonna be to come out of that shadow.

And congratulations, you have done it with flying colors. [NOISE] >> But for all our differences, you in a very nice expensive suit, me and what I wore to the gym today, [NOISE] >> Two very different paths, one very very similar goal. [NOISE] >> I didn’t have the famous dad,

I didn’t have the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, son of a plumber. Global International Heavyweight champion, superstar wrestler, recognized on the streets, dined with kings and queens, how’s the rest of it go? >> Slept in alleys and dined on pork and beans. [NOISE] >> I didn’t have the famous dad.

My father was blue collar, my father was just a regular guy. He was an electrician, which makes it kind of ironic. [NOISE] >> I’m more of the American Dream than you are. [NOISE] >> Okay, [NOISE] >> Okay, American Dream, here’s what I wanna talk about. Let’s talk about the Pipebomb. [NOISE]

>> You said right up there, you said a few words, you rattled off the formula for a revolution. You inspired countless, there are wrestlers who have gotten in this today because of said interview. Count me one of those who was inspired. But then you left, and when you left, you really left.

You didn’t pass the torch off, you dropped it on the way out. And I don’t think you cared who picked it up, but I think you know who did, I did. [NOISE] >> Everything, everything that you spoke about, I literally did. So where you talked, I walked.

And what is actually ironic that makes me more CM Punk than you. [NOISE] >> It’s getting a little here, you are more CM Punk than I am? Well, allow me to give you the full road to Wrestlemania, CM Punk experience. See, Cody Rhodes, you have carried this company on your back for

A soul crushing two years, and you’re right around the corner, and they hand you the cover of the WWE 2K video game. Congratulations, by the way, it’s on sale pretty soon, I’m sure. And right when you’re about to cross the finish line and finish your story. Wait, what’s that in the distance?

It’s a much bigger superstar that hasn’t been around in a very long time, coming to take it all away from you. [NOISE] >> And I’m talking about me. [NOISE] >> There you are, looking out for me again. [NOISE] >> You might be right, you talked all about the American Dream.

Well, then you should know this, he was my best friend, and he regularly quoted John Wayne. And the quote I heard the most is, courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyways. You may be right, but I have only one direction I can go.

I have to go, and that’s forward, and that’s in the Royal Rumble. That direction goes through you. [NOISE] [MUSIC] >> Well, Stark Reality is set in. Emotions are running high, we are days away from this Saturday in the Royal Rumble match, where the winner- >> Will Main Event WrestleMania-