Sheamus Comes To Chicago For Night Of Champions

Every major title will be on the line when the WWE returns to the Allstate Arena on Sunday, September 19th for the “Night of Champions” pay-per-view. The main event will be a “Six-Pack challenge” where 6 superstars will be competing to take home the WWE Championship Belt. Among the six competitors will be Stephen Farrelly AKA Sheamus, the current reigning WWE Champion. I spoke to the 32-year old superstar from Dublin, Ireland to talk about his return to Chicago and his meteoric rise to the top of the WWE.

Good afternoon sir.
Elliott, how are you doing? What’s going on?
I’m doing really good. This is an honor and a pleasure for me. I’ve spoken to a lot of WWE Superstars but this is the first time I’ve gotten to speak with the reigning WWE Champion. Thanks for taking the time.
My pleasure, fella, my pleasure. I’m pretty excited; actually, to come in to Chicago for a pay-per-view because Chicago itself is great for wrestling and fervent for the WWE. The fans are electric, really loud, very passionate. It’s one of the best atmospheres to work in in the United States right now. I’m pretty pumped to go in there as champion, and also in a major pay-per-view like “Night of Champions” so I’m looking forward to it.
Awesome. Now you’re in a “six-pack challenge” with John Cena, Randy Orton, Edge and Wade Barrett. I know you’re a man short right now, but what are some of the challenges you have as a WWE superstar in trying to put together the best match that you can?
I think for me, champion or no champion, it’s always every WWE superstar’s goal to draw the best match and that’s what makes our shows so good. I mean at the same time we’re working together, all the matches are working together to create a great show. But also the fact is that we are also competing to put on the best match of the show, whether you’re champion or not. There are a lot of elements in my match, especially as the WWE Champion, it’s very important for me to try and hold on to it. There are a lot of guys and a target on my back. When you’re #1 you hold on to the most coveted prize in the WWE and everybody wants it. It always gets harder each and every month.
So the general manager’s got me in there with 5 other guys and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like pasty white guys from Ireland ‘cuz he seems to be having a go at me every single turn I do, so obstacle after obstacle so it’s going to be interesting, (it’s) Wade Barrett’s first pay-per-view, I mean he’s kind of seen as maybe the rookie of the show. But he’s not a rookie either; he’s been a huge impact. And there are the likes of Edge and Chris Jericho – well not Chris Jericho, he’s gone so — John Cena, Randy Orton and myself, and whoever else. Knowing our general manager, he’ll probably put Kali in there, or something, probably Mark Henry or Ted Debiase, something like that. So it’s a lot of guys and lot of competition and it’s going to make for an interesting bout, but I’m sure we’re gonna put on the match of the night. Then again, there are so many matches it’s going to be a quality night of entertainment. And I’m pretty sure, like always, that the crowd is gonna go home happy.

You talk about how being the WWE Champion makes you a target and especially in your case where you have been able to attain the pinnacle of the industry in a relatively short amount of time. How does that feel knowing that you’re so successful so quickly? I know you’ve been wrestling for at least a decade and had some setbacks from injury along the way but you really shot to the top really quickly in the WWE. How do you feel about that?
Oh, I feel great about it. But actually my career started in ’05, I did a little bit of training in ’02 but that doesn’t count for me cuz there’s a 5-year gap there between that and when I started. But ’05 is when I re-started so that’s 5 years. It’s crazy, I mean like the last year has felt like 5 years, you know? And not in a bad way, a good way, because basically I always knew when I got an opportunity I’d step up to the opportunity. I knew that if I was given any type of chance for a championship I’d take it. A lot of people work years to get that opportunity. I’ve always been confident in myself. I mean I left my family; I left my country, my whole way of life at home to come here to chase a dream in the WWE. It’s something that I’ve thought of since I was a wee child, you know?
The reason I say it feels like years is so much has happened in that year. I’ve had to step up to the plate and its one thing to get there but to stay there is completely different ballgame. I think I’ve been doing that quite well. Already I kinda feel like one of the senior guys; I feel like don’t wanna be going anywhere (else), I wanna be in the mix; to be the best or the greatest WWE superstar of all time.
So, it’s funny that people say that to me, you know for a great year. It’s weird, it happened so fast. Everything keeps going, the machine keeps moving forward and forward and forward. You don’t get a chance to look back; you just get a chance to look forward. It’s an incredible experience. I’m living my dream every day. I just got back from Japan and China, Puerto Rico and it’s just non-stop.
It’s really interesting because way back I think I opened the door for a lot of these (newer) superstars too. You know this huge youth revolt we’ve got going on right now with “The Miz” coming through; the NXT guys, the Nexus are pushing; (unintelligible) Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger became champs. So I feel personally that I helped open the door for the youth revolt and I think it’s working quite well. It’s gotten to the “WWE Universe,” it’s really gripped them. New storylines, fresh WWE superstars, and I can certainly guarantee you from the last time we were in Chicago for a pay-per-view to this time now, there’s going to be a whole lot of new faces there. It’s gonna bring something fresh to the audience, and not watching the same stuff over and over again.
You talk about all this news talent that’s coming up — you were involved or you’re still involved in a feud with John Cena for the WWE Title– but is there anybody -
I can’t get rid of that fella! This cage match was supposed to be the last time. The Purple Ronny or Purple Warrior or whatever it is he calls himself [laughs]. I don’t know what it is. He and those colors, first it was orange and blue and now it’s purple. Purple Ronny, the character name is called Purple Ronny [laughs] that’s what I call him. Yeah just he keeps poppin’ up, I just can’t seem to shake him. He’s always going to be in the mix. He and Randy Orton, of course, who I have an equal disliking for so it will be great to prove to everyone that I’m still the greatest. I’m sure a lot of people are going to be hoping that either one of them will take the WWE Championship home, but at the end of the day it’ll be me, I guarantee it, to be walking out of the Allstate Arena WWE Champion.
Who else would you like to lock horns with?
You know [laughs] (I’ve spent) a lot of time with a lot of tough superstars, John Cena, Randy Orton, tied with Edge and of course Chris Jericho – obviously (I had a match) with Edge in a “Fatal Four Way” – honestly, I think personally I’m so confident in myself I believe I could easily take The Undertaker’s undefeated streak away from him at “Wrestlemania.” That’s if he has the nerve to go with me down there. Maybe he’s scared of me? Maybe he feels like he knows I could take him, you know?
But he’s in action too, against Kane for the World Heavyweight Championship; and Miz against Daniel Bryan – there you go, Daniel Bryan, not new to the scene in the WWE but coming to his first major pay-per-view – that’s why the “Night of Champions” is so good, Elliott, all the championships are on the line, (so) the audience gets to see a lot of top matches, important matches, title matches of course. The Undertaker, definitely, at “Wrestlemania” I know I can take him, it’s only a matter (of time).
You make reference to yourself growing up a pasty, pale kid. Any thought about contacting Conan O’Brien and saying that you want to join his “Pale Force”?
[laughs] I’ve seen pictures in the audience with Conan O’Brien’s head pasted onto my body in signs all over arenas all over the country. The thing is I grew from a pasty white kid to a pasty white man, so Conan O’Brien’s got nothing on me. I guarantee you he uses a spray tan or something. [laughs] He’s probably tanning the face and the hands but the rest that’s covered by his shirt and tie is probably as pale as me. [laughs] So I won’t go into that.
Last question: the “Mystery GM” on RAW…it’s Betty White, isn’t it?
Betty White?
Yeah, she’s everywhere!
I’ll tell you a funny story about Betty White. My parents were very young when I was born. I grew up in Dublin city in an old Georgian house that was turned into a flat. I grew up with my grandmother and my grand aunt, you know because my parents were both working. And I swear to God, I was forced – I had a very bad childhood that was basically brought on from having been forced to watch episodes of “Mattlock” and “The Golden Girls” which is probably one of the reasons I’m so angry in the ring. And “Murder She Wrote” as well; don’t forget that Jessica Fletcher bird either. So a combination of all those shows I was made to watch by my grandmother, they’re responsible for my aggression in the ring right now. So you mention Betty White that makes me angry, I don’t care for those questions.
Awesome.
[laughs] God, nightmares though. You’ve brought up some – what do they say?
Repressed memories?
Repressed memories. Yeah you brought up those repressed memories there. Hope you’re proud of yourself, Elliott. This interview had gone so well until you took that road. Boy, oh my god. Well there you go.
Thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it.
Elliott, no problem. It’s gonna be a kicking pay-per-view, fella. I’m well psyched about it. The star power on the show is off the hook; the mixture of old and new. And I said the great matches: they’ve got the “lumberjill match” as well for all the red-blooded males out there. Pretty much all the top Divas are going to be a part of the match. The Miz and Daniel Bryan for the U.S. Title, which is just a really hot storyline; there’s also going to be Kane and The Undertaker which is a feud that spans over 15 years, and of course the “six-pack challenge” or “five-pack challenge”, maybe the general manager can’t even count. I don’t know whatever matters, I’m gonna walk out WWE Champion. You can count on that.

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John Cena Interview w/ TV Guide

John Cena was interviewed by TVGuide.com to promote the 900th RAW show tonight from Boston. You can read the interview below or by clicking the link above.

The WWE does nothing small. So fans can likely expect one giant card when the wrestling titan stages the 900th episode of its flagship series WWE Raw tonight in Boston. "We usually do something epic, and this certainly is a milestone for us," says wrestling superstar John Cena, who will face off with Sheamus and Randy Orton in a steel cage championship title match.

A member of the WWE since 2002, Cena estimates he's been an active part of the last 200 episodes. "It's really a testament to the fact that the WWE has entertained millions of fans all over the world," he says. "You get the music of a rock concert, the athleticism of a football game and the entertainment of a Broadway play all rolled into one."

And while Cena says he has seen "damn near close to all" of the Raw broadcasts, he does admit to making time for another TV guilty pleasure: MTV's Jersey Shore. He could even see the Situation inside the ring. "They're so over the top that I think our fans would immediately attach themselves to that cast," Cena says. "If they're looking for work after Jersey Shore ends, they may want to try the world of sports entertainment." Hey, it worked for the Real World's Miz!

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Cody Rhodes Interview w/ ChicagoNow.com

Cody Rhodes recently did an interview with ChicagoNow.com discussing a variety of topics from “Warehouse 13″ to wrestling and his family. Read the full interview below:

Dashing Cody Rhodes doesn’t get asked to kiss during World Wrestling Entertainment broadcasts, so he didn’t know what to expect on “Warehouse 13.”

But his first on-camera kiss–with series star Joanne Kelly–definitely wasn’t sexy.

“It wasn’t the emotional, loving, two-souls-connecting type kiss,” Rhodes told me during a phone chat last week from Marietta, Ga. “It was her with buffalo sauce all over her face and a half a cold buffalo wing in her mouth and us kind of a slobbering on one another.”

The WWE superstar explores his softer side in the “WH13″ episode “Merge with Caution,” which airs at 8 p.m. Tuesday on Syfy. Rhodes guest stars as Kurt Smoller, the former star quarterback of the football team at Myka Bering’s high school. Myka (Kelly) used to tutor Kurt and during their 10-year reunion, sparks fly when they meet again.

The only problem is–and some might consider this a spoiler but it is being shown in the trailer for the episode–Myka and Pete (Eddie McClintock) exchange bodies at some point in the episode thanks to an artifact.

Rhodes wouldn’t say whom Kurt ends up kissing. “It may not be what it seems for Kurt when he speaks to Myka,” he said. “He might actually be speaking to Pete.”

If the first kiss involved buffalo sauce, maybe it is goofy Pete in Myka’s body. Still, it was Rhodes and Kelly locking lips. Rhodes said the biggest shock for him on set was that he and Kelly never talked about the kissing scene beforehand. He had an acting coach helping him with his scenes, and they discussed it. He and director Anton Cooper chatted about it. The actors rehearsed briefly, but without kissing. Then it came time to film the real thing.
“It was like riding a motorcycle blind, man,” Rhodes said, adding that despite the pressure, “it went smoothly, sans the buffalo sauce.”

“The truth is, Joanne Kelly is such a beautiful woman that it’s one of those moments that anyone, anyone doing it would really at least have to chuckle on the inside from the fact that, ‘Gosh this is what I’m doing and I’m getting paid to do it,’” he said. “That’s pretty great.”

Despite the good time he had on set, and the fact that he’d be happy to reprise the Kurt Smoller role, Rhodes has no aspirations to get into acting like former WWE superstars The Rock, John Cena and Steve Austin, among others.

“I love what I do at the WWE and I’m just now starting to really get into my own stride,” he said. “I’m only 25 and I’m going to be working for a pretty long time.”

He’ll get to do it on Syfy beginning Oct. 1, when WWE Friday Night SmackDown moves to the network with a two-hour block of wrestling. Rhodes said the move is a good one for all involved, and that fans can expect a new, youthful, character-driven Smackdown with such superstars as McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk–”a really tremendous, tremendous list.”

Don’t expect any kissing, however. Even though a gentleman never kisses and tells, I had to ask Rhodes how, after that initial messy kiss between Kurt and Myka, the romantic kiss went.

“Oh, I’m no gentleman. I don’t know if you’ve seen my work with the WWE, I’m no gentleman,” he said. “Honest to God, it was one of the best kisses I can remember. It truly was.”

Go Joanne Kelly.

Rhodes told me about his wrestling heritage–his dad is the legendary Dusty Rhodes and his brother is Goldust; that he would like to play Superman one day, and that he hopes he’s still dashing when he wins the World Heavyweight Championship.

Tell me about Kurt.
Oh, Kurt Smoller role was a very fun role, he being Myka’s high school love interest. What I like about Kurt is a little different than standard television and film jocks. In high school he was the cool captain of the football team, the quarterback. Ten years down the road when it comes to the reunion it wasn’t like all had fallen out for him; he was still pretty cool. So it wasn’t the standard sort of a guy who couldn’t hang on. Kurt had moved on and Kurt, according to Myka and you know, even Kurt’s girlfriend from high school, Kurt still looked
just as good.

Otherwise you wouldn’t be playing him, right?
Well, I mean, I’d still be excited about anything over the ropes in television, but yeah, I would be a little less excited if I was playing some washed up guy, that’s for sure.

He’s also unlike some high school jocks on TV because he seems to be a nice guy too.
Yeah, yeah. And that I think he learned perhaps from his mistakes in his teenage days. That’s actually where the episode kind of picks up with him, I guess you’d call it, making a pass at Myka Bering who he vaguely remembers as the girl used to tutor him in school. She apparently has grown into quite the woman.

So she wasn’t as striking in high school as she is now?
I don’t know that she wasn’t striking. Let’s say that she might have just been a hair tie and taken her glasses away from being striking. She didn’t really know yet how to exude herself.

Is there anything about the role that sort of reminds you of your own high school experiences?
Yeah, it certainly does. I was playing a little bit older; my 10-year anniversary will be in 2014. There was a girl that sat next to me in creative writing class who was my favorite part of the day, getting to talk to her. She was what I tried to use as inspiration for the relationship that existed between Myka and Kurt Smoller. So that was very simple. You know there’s one that, you wouldn’t call them “ones that got away,” but you like call them ones that you never went to bat for.

You kind of wonder, “What if?”
Yeah exactly. Exactly that. You wonder about them.

So is this something you want to start doing more of, doing the acting things?
You know, we have a lot of guys who have bridged over from sports entertainment to the silver screen, the little screen and for me, I had fun. I really did. And I would certainly come back. I think Kurt Smoller needs even more to get involved with an artifact somewhere on “”Warehouse 13.” But I love what I do at the WWE and I’m just now starting to really get into my own stride. I’m only 25 and I’m going to be working for a pretty long time. I love it too much.

I was doing a little research and I watched some video interview you did where the person interviewing you kept asking you if what the WWE do is real or is it fake? You just said, “We entertain. It’s entertainment.” Do you feel that the acting is just another step beyond what you already do?
It’s funny because like, if you went up to Christian Bale in an airport, or if you saw Christian Bale … and you went up to him and you said, “Oh my gosh, Batman. You’re Batman, so it’s a pleasure to meet you Bruce Wayne.” What we do is no different. We just happen to use our real names a lot of time on TV.

So it’s so funny that some of the most educated people still like to do the witch hunt and ask the “Is wrestling real” question. Of course wrestling is not real. I always like to say, “It’s fixed, it’s not fake,” because we put ourselves through a tremendous amount of physicality and it’s a dance man! And the WWE universe and the people watching–they’re all part of it. They’re all playing an instrument. It’s so much fun and it’s so past the day of the ’80′s “wrassling.”

All right, but you guys are definitely doing all that physical stuff; you have to train and stay fit.
You got to be training. We tell kids all the time, you can’t watch one of our DVDs without sitting through the “Don’t Try This at Home” message. I got a bursa sac on my left elbow right now, my knees are a little roughed up, I got a minor tear in my right bicep and that’s a good day.

It’s funny, when I started my two days of shooting the “Warehouse” episode, I had gotten punched square in the eye a few days before, and my eye was starting to get infected. It was not conjunctivitis, but another sort of infection, like inflammation in my eye and it looked like it was going to be like nasty pink eye. I was so scared that like by the second day of the shoot it would be inflamed and big, so I was pumping that thing full of eye drops the whole time I was there. And when I finally got a chance to look at the footage, I thought, “Thank God you really can’t tell.” Because the day after it was as big and red and puffy as it could be.

Good thing you kept it at bay. I hear you’re a super hero and comic book fan. Would you ever do a super hero movie?
Actually, oh my gosh, that’s something I would-I know this sounds like, you know, how many people say this very same thing? But man I love super heroes. I love comics, but specifically I love superhero comics. I’m not really a fan of the mature, grittier comics, zombie comics. They’re cool and stuff, but I like men in tights, women in tights, putting their boots on like I do out there. Heroes with powers, mutant powers or whatever. I like that stuff. I don’t know why they didn’t like Brandon Routh, but the world needs another Superman, man.

Is that who you’d want to do?
Oh, I mean I have the credentials in terms of hair color and size and my eyes and stuff like that if you’re going straight from the DC database. But I’d do anything, man. I’d do anything from the obscure like Black Bolt to the high profile like a Superman. I love comics.

That’s cool. So WWE Friday Night SmackDown moves to SyFy this fall? Are you excited about that? Is that a good thing?
Yeah. What a tremendous move, I really think, for both parties. And right now it’s so cool to be a part of SmackDown. I said this the other day; I don’t want to go back to RAW. I’ve been on RAW, that being the Monday night show, a show that’s been around a little longer.

To me, SmackDown is the better show. And it doesn’t always get credit. What we’re bringing to SyFy is just a tremendous line of long-lasting characters. There’s been a huge movement in the WWE and you have almost all those guys that everyone is waiting to reach the ceiling. You have almost all those guys on SmackDown–McIntyre, myself, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, CM Punk. It’s a really tremendous, tremendous list.

With your dad, Dusty Rhodes, and brother Dustin, or Goldust, and a lot of your extended family were or are in the wrestling business. What’s you favorite memory of your dad’s career?
Any chance I could get when they were in the south near here [Marietta, Ga.] Any chance I could get [to see a] WCW Live Event I would get out there and I loved the shows. I didn’t really like back stage, I didn’t really like to lift the veil. I liked to be out in the crowd and I was a fan. And my dad, I guess the best way to put it is he didn’t smarten me up. He let it be magical for me for a very long time. And I can remember too, he didn’t work in the WWE, which at the time was the WWF, he didn’t work there for too, too long, but I remember specifically the first time I ever got in a ring, a WWE ring was, gosh I was maybe only four-years-old, he was on “Wrestle Mania” it was in Toronto, Canada, and he picked me up and carried me in the ring with his hands under my arms and put me over the top rail and let my feet touch the ground. I think I walked around for maybe only a few seconds before he got in the ring himself, picked me back up and put me outside the ring. I don’t know what his intentions were, or if he didn’t want me to get too hooked or what. That’s one of things, I’m not even sure if it was real, but I know it was. I know it did really happen and it’s one of my favorite memories.

Did you always want to wrestle, to follow into his footsteps?
I didn’t think I was ever going to do anything else. When I was about 19, I had a streak of rebellion in me and at the moment I wasn’t confident I could compete in pro wrestling and sports entertainment. I went to L.A. and got into an acting school out there and I tried that side of entertainment. I was out there thinking, I knew this was a bad thought process, I was out there thinking that when this was over, when you’ve succeeded here, you can get into wrestling. That’s no way at 19 to go about it, so I went back to my first love and moved to Louisville, Ken., where I began to train at Ohio Valley Wrestling to be a WWE Superstar.

Is there anything special that you guys are going to do this fall on SyFy? Anything new that you can talk about that will be in the shows and everything?
The show very much sells itself and has a tremendous track record with it’s past networks and it’s always such a huge hit. But I can say, I think you’ll see a new face to SmackDown and I think when you have such youth and talent like we do, and I include myself in that group, it is going to be a different SmackDown. For so long it had been “The Rock’s SmackDown” and then it was the “Undertaker’s SmackDown.” Right now it’s somebody else’s SmackDown and you’re really just waiting to see really who gets put in that position. Certainly that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing the Undertaker, but it’s really I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart, SmackDown is the best show WWE offers and it’s going to be very much just that on SyFy.

I have a few questions from Twitter. @WWEdivasource wants to know which diva would you like to work with the most?
Layla. You know, she has a nice butt and an English accent and I really like English accents.

And nice butts?
I’ve worked with her briefly and just hearing that accent is killer.

@GeekToMe asks: Has the WWE felt any pressure to tone down the violence because of Linda McMahon’s political aspirations?
It’s a great question, but it’s funny because the WWE went TV-PG … before Linda McMahon began her run for Senate and the two don’t go hand-in-hand. Theey’re certainly both great moves. She will be a great senator and WWE, it was the best move to go TV-PG. That style before was “wrassling,” is the best way to describe it. When people say, “That’s wrassling,” it’s blood and things and it’s not so much family entertainment.

Trust me, I grew up on wrassling. But I’m hoping this new generation grows up on sports entertainment because there are still heavy collisions and unbelievable physicality. There are some really amazing things the guys can do, but we want our audience to be young boys and girls and we want them to grow up with us. We’re not out to please a small sect of gays in their late 20′s who want to see all the stuff they saw in the late 90′s. The chance of that happening is zero.

Who would you like to work a match with if you could with anyone in history, who would it be and what kind of match would it be?
Well, my favorite professional wrestlers was WWE Superstar was Shawn Michaels and I got the opportunity to work with him. I have now another opportunity, but it’s just got to present itself in a way that’s entertaining for the fans. I’d love to work with my brother, Goldust. I think that if he was to have a last match, I’d sure want it to be [with] me. He’s on the backside of his career and he can still go like somebody on the front side of their career, right in their prime, but he’d expressed to me that he’d like to get in there with me and I would love to get in there with him.

So any family rifts have been repaired? I’d read your dad and he had a falling out.
Yeah, in the wrestling game, it was a very public falling out the two of them had and he kind of left me by the wayside. I wasn’t able to be there when he initially debuted the character Goldust, which was, at the time, envelop-pushing, ahead of its time. It’s been quite some time now since he came back into our family, but I never would have imagined that we would be working in the WWE together. I always thought I would be up here by myself just with the name, but it’s Goldust on Monday Night RAW, and it’s Dusty Rhodes, our old man, down at the WWE’s developmental territory training future super stars. So it’s the family business.

That’s great. So the last question, are you going to become the first dashing world heavyweight champion?
You know? I certainly hope. I think it’s only a matter of time, but I hope to say that when I do win the World Heavyweight championship I’ll still be the Dashing Cody Rhodes. But that seem like a name that may not roll off the tongue, but it’s a name that sticks. So, I’d say yes.

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Cody Rhodes Talks About His Appearance On SyFy's Warehouse 13

On Oct. 1, "Friday Night Smackdown" sets up its pro-wrestling ring on Syfy, but before that, one of the WWE Superstar wrestlers takes an acting turn on Syfy's Tuesday hit "Warehouse 13."

In an episode airing Aug. 24, Cody Rhodes guest stars as Kurt Smoller, the former captain of the football team at Secret Service agent Myka Bering's (Joanne Kelly) high school. Little does he know that Myka has grown up to be half of a team -- with fellow Secret Service agent Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) -- that chases down mysterious artifacts that have a strange and often dramatic effect on those around them.

"Kurt is the quintessential cool guy from high school, the jock," Rhodes says. "He is the quarterback of the high-school football team. He was in the eye of every girl. "But it's cool, because it's not black and white. With Kurt Smoller, it's really more of an area of gray. It wasn't just, 'I'm the cool kid. I can't talk to the Myka Berings of the world,' because Myka Bering was his tutor in algebra.

"So he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I like that." Myka runs into Kurt at her high-school reunion, and although she winds up under the influence of an artifact, sparks fly.

Kurt's a little surprised to see his old tutor, now all grown up.

"All grown up," Rhodes says, "meaning a complete bombshell in an unbelievable blue dress? Kurt Smoller's high-school experience isn't all that different from Cody Rhodes', even in the experience of seeing someone you thought was cool and a great conversationalist turn into such a total lovely package -- I know the feeling. "It came as a complete shock for him."

As for his own experience, Rhodes reveals that he used to enjoy talking to the girl who sat next to him in creative writing.

Then, says Rhodes, about six months ago he was at a gas station in his hometown of Marietta, Ga., and there she was, on her way to see a theatrical performance.

"She was all done up in her absolute best attire," Rhodes says, "in a very beautiful black dress. Honestly, I was taken aback and a little bit speechless. It was quite impressive."

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Sheamus ready to rumble in Daytona

One look at the non-tanned Sheamus, you would assume he has never been near a beach — especially The World’s Most Famous Beach.

That will change Saturday, as the World Wrestling Entertainment red-headed champion will headline a card at the Ocean Center.

Sheamus, who will be joined by more familiar names like John Cena, Randy Orton and Chris Jericho, is a huge part of WWE’s shift to focus on its young superstars.

The News-Journal talked by phone with current WWE champion Sheamus, who is from Dublin, Ireland.

Are you going to visit the beach?

We stay as far away from each other as possible. I like Daytona for the bikes, the Harleys.

Your WWE debut was June 30, 2009, and here you are already a two-time WWE champion. What does that mean to you, the first Irish-born champion?

It means everything to me. I gave up a lot and sacrificed a lot to come to the U.S. to follow my dream. I was pretty serious as to what I wanted to do. You have to make your own opportunities. I was a little bit surprised at my quick success, but I knew if I got the opportunity I would take it. It’s a great honor. It’s opened up a lot of peoples’ eyes to the product and it has created a big following back home. It’s a dream come true.

We know you are 6-foot-6 and 272 pounds. But how big are you in Ireland?

It’s incredible — there is so much going on when we go overseas. WWE is huge — we go there twice per year.

What does the term “The Celtic Warrior” mean to you?

The stereotypes of an Irishman are a leprechaun and things like that. It’s something I want to get away from. I want to drive fear into my opponents, especially with what I’ve achieved the last year. I want something positive, not something to be laughed at.

Talk a little bit about your wrestling background.

I started wrestling in Ireland in the United Kingdom in 2005. I started training to become a sports entertainer, gaining experience overseas. I moved to Florida Championship Wrestling in 2007. It was a long haul.

As champion, you have a major role in WWE’s shift to focus on the young guys — guys like The Miz and Jack Swagger, and Nexus from the Tuesday NXT rookie television show. What does that mean to you, and how will the young guys change WWE’s future?

A lot of guys have been there awhile in FCW, developing the superstars. You’ve got Wade Barrett, Yoshi Tatsu, Ted DiBiase Jr. who have gone from FCW to WWE. In fact, about 70 to 80 percent of the roster is pretty much from FCW. They give you the road — it’s up to you to follow it.

Who is the bigger threat right now for your title — Orton (your Summerslam opponent), The Miz (who has a guaranteed title shot) or Nexus (who you have a “truce” with)?

Once you become WWE champion, there’s a target on your back. Everyone wants the title. Orton is an extreme threat to me. He’s been champion multiple times. I’m better than anyone. I’m the best in the world. There’s a payback for The Miz coming. Maybe I’ll teach him a lesson in Daytona and put his (guaranteed title shot) suitcase away for good.

Will we ever see a stipulation match where you have to get a tan if you lose or change your red hair color?

I’m very happy with the Irish tan.

What does the future hold for Sheamus?

The future is bright. It’s laced with gold. I want to make sure I’m the longest reigning WWE champion. With the truce with Nexus and Cena occupied, there’s no one to take me out. I’m here for the long term.

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If You Go

WHAT:WWE’s Raw World Tour

WHERE: Ocean Center, 101 N. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach

TICKETS: $15, $25, $35, $45 at the box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com/wwe or by calling 1-800-745-3000

ADVERTISED MATCHES (card subject to change): WWE Champion Sheamus vs. “The Legend Killer” Randy Orton; John Cena, Chris Jericho and John Morrison vs. The Nexus; United States Champion The Miz vs. Evan Bourne; Mark Henry vs. William Regal; Eve and Gail Kim vs. Alicia Fox and Jillian; The Great Khali vs. Primo; Yoshi Tatsu vs. Ted DiBiase (with Maryse); Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov vs. Jimmy and Jey Uso (with Tamina)

BEFORE THE SHOW: Meet Morrison and Eve at Daytona Lagoon, 601 Earl St., Daytona Beach, from 3-4 p.m. Saturday. Admission to meet the duo is free.

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