Teil Runnels admits she still finds Cody Rhodes' WWE rival Brock Lesnar "scary" in real life.
Runnels is the daughter of Dusty Rhodes and the sister of Cody and Dustin Rhodes. On July 17, she watched on from ringside as Lesnar attacked Cody in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, on RAW.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling Senior Editor Bill Apter, Runnels said she feared the night would end badly for her brother:
"When he came out first in his hometown to that great ovation here in Atlanta, and he spoke emotionally about my mom, in the back of my mind, I thought, 'This is going too well. This is really nice,' because, you know, the WWE, there is a reputation if you're in your hometown, you could have a hard time. So, when his [Brock Lesnar's] music hit, I was like, 'Urgh, here we go.'" [7:30 – 7:56]
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Lesnar hit The American Nightmare with an F-5 before applying the Kimura Lock submission hold. After witnessing the beatdown up close, Runnels felt legitimately frightened by The Beast Incarnate:
"Brock is scary to me, still. There are some guys that have something about them, when you see them in the back, you're like, 'That's a scary dude.'" [7:57 – 8:09]
In the video above, Runnels explained how The Dusty Rhodes Foundation inspires and supports youth athletes in underserved communities. You can donate to the non-profit organization here.
How Cody Rhodes' mother felt about Brock Lesnar's attack
Several members of Cody Rhodes' family had front-row seats for the July 17 episode of RAW, including his mother, Michelle.
At one stage, Teil Runnels expected Michelle to confront Brock Lesnar to stop him from attacking her son:
"I thought she [Michelle] was gonna jump the rail because she's pretty crazy! Her and my daughter, we were laughing that we had to hold them back. I think it was pretty shocking. My youngest son, who was right there with us, he was not too happy. He is 12 (…), And you can't do anything to help him [Cody Rhodes]. They won't let you jump in there, so you're kind of just watching it. He had brought a friend, and they had a pretty big reaction. It was great." [8:21 – 9:07]
On August 5, Lesnar will go one-on-one with Rhodes for the third time at SummerSlam in Detroit, Michigan.
Do you think Cody Rhodes should beat Brock Lesnar? Let us know in the comments section below.
A new documentary about Cody Rhodes' life in the wrestling business, WWE American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes, will be available to stream on Peacock on July 31.
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