Cody Rhodes On Racism, Confederate Flag Controversy, Facing Daniel Bryan In A 10,000 Seat Arena

Cody Rhodes was interviewed by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to discuss this Friday's Northeast Wrestling's Holiday Havoc event in Waterbury, Connecticut. Below are a couple of highlights:

Recently stating on Busted Open Radio that he wants to face Daniel Bryan when he books a 10,000 arena show with the Young Bucks:

"I'm the son of the 'American Dream'. Of course I'm a dreamer. My dad had no fear. As a promoter and businessman, he had no fear. I'm 32 and entering the prime of my career, so why would I be afraid? I've found these friends and businessmen in the Bucks, and I believe the business cannot continue to go on the path it's going. It has to continue to change, and there have to be people who are going to change it. I really can't claim to be any of that until we fill this joint up, but I am not afraid of what we are about to do."

Racial tension in America today and the confederate flag controversy:

"It bothers me, but even surprises me when racism pops up. I had a fan tweet to tell me he'd been a fan for a long time, but he had the Confederate flag as his profile picture. I said, 'Hey man, you've got to get rid of that,' and he did, but what surprised me about that interaction was the amount of apologists who defended what the Confederate flag actually stood for. That always surprises me?that there are still apologists, essentially, for racism.

"We don't need to be educating people on the Confederate flag, it just needs to be gone. In Germany, there are not swastikas on every corner. That part of their past is history and they've progressed. I'm always shocked when I see apologists for racism, which has no place. We're all in this together. Why would we ever divide?"

Rhodes also discussed Friday's NEW event, the Bullet Club "invasion" of RAW and more. You can check out the full interview by clicking here.