Cope Says He Didn’t Understand Death Riders Storyline At First, Understands Wrestling Career Is Winding Down

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Cope said that he understands that his career is winding down, and he is appreciating it while he still has it. He also spoke about the Death Riders angle, which he admitted he didn’t understand at first. Here are highlights:

On the end of his career: “I’ve understood that it’s all fleeting. You know? It ends. And last time, I didn’t know it was going to end when it ended. So I didn’t necessarily soak it in, maybe appreciate it to the extent that I needed to if I knew that was going to happen. This time, I know, I know, ‘Okay, this is winding down. There’s only so much more I can keep doing this.’ Which means I need to really appreciate every aspect of it.”

On his title program with Jon Moxley: “I think it felt like the right time to go, ‘Okay. If we’re going to, you know, do a title program, this is probably the time to do it. Moxley seems like the right guy.’ I also feel like, you know, they’re a group that need a strong babyface, especially to establish what they are,” he said. “You go back to 30 years on television and people just kind of recognizing your face or like, ‘Hey, I think I know that guy,’ like that kind of thing. It felt like I was the right babyface right now to try and really help establish what they’re trying to get across.”

On good matches vs. story: “Everybody can have a good match if you’re at this stage, you know? And people can do wrestling holds. It’s when to do them. Do you know the right place? The right time? All of those things. And that becomes easier when you have a storyline built into it. And so you look at like, Ricochet and Swerve. And yeah, they can have a spectacular match. But man, it’s going to mean so much more now because of Nana and Jimmy Rave’s robe. So you add that element of story to it. That, I’ve always said, makes the match that much more.”

On the Death Riders: “Well, for me, it was just, it was confusing at first. Like, I didn’t fully understand what was happening. So I wanted to try and figure that out along with the audience, I think, and then go ‘Alright, what can be the story here? The story can be you take them out, because it’s always the numbers that they have the advantage with. Okay, let’s do something about that. Let’s tell a story there.’ And more than anything, the beginning of the thing is, ‘Okay, you attacked all of my friends on television, right? Okay. So, yeah, I’m coming back. Time to step in and give this a shot’”