As Cody Rhodes inches closer and closer to his forthcoming match at WrestleMania 39, the WWE champion-in-waiting has already started to talk about his future prospects in the promotion once his current feud comes to an end. Rhodes has mentioned that he wants WWE to bring back the Winged Eagle belt, wants to be a fighting champion should he become one, and now, has even named a few performers he would like to wrestle in an interview on the AJ Awesome Show.

“If I was to be so, A., on my game, in the right spot at the right time, lighting striking, legit lightning in a bottle to be able to be the one guy who does beat Roman, because you gotta remember, Daniel Bryan and Edge couldn’t beat Roman at the same time,” Rhodes said via Fightful. “Kevin Owens, unable to do it. Sami, so, so close. Drew, Drew was almost closer than Sami was. If I was to be so lucky as to be the one to beat him, don’t want to look past him, but for the purposes of your question, there’s a couple. There’s three guys. We talked about one guy already, so we won’t even mention him. But two come to mind. One is [Gargano], and that’s because when I was with my former company, I always remembered kind of going head-to-head with him on Wednesdays. When I say that, out of respect, you had to oppose him with something strong because he delivers, and he’s a wrestler’s wrestler. He’s something that we’ve never had that singles [match], and I’d love to have that with him, just to see where I’m at, see where he’s at. Very curious, different styles. So that’s one.”

“The American Nightmare” versus Johnny Wrestling, huh? Well, the duo have technically tagged once before back in Evolve when they took on Chris Hero and Drew Galloway-now-McIntyre, according to Cagematch, but since then, their only interaction came at the Royal Rumble, in that they were both in the match, not actually working much together. After explicitly asking to wrestle Chad Gable to help put him over, giving Johnny Wrestling a similar rub would be fantastic for business.

Cody Rhodes wouldn't mind wrestling these RAW Superstars.

Continuing to discuss his potential foes, Rhodes then turned his attention to a certain Hall of Fame fighter, who is currently embroiled in a heated feud with the “Frankenstein's Monster” he created, The Judgement Day.

“The other one is Edge,” Rhodes said. “I’ve told some people that before. I don’t think I’ve told Edge that because I don’t want to seem adversarial or confrontational. But I don’t know how much time Edge has left. He could do this forever if he wanted to. He’s in better shape than every locker room combined for some reason. But when I was on SmackDown, I remember was a really good locker room leader, a true locker room leader, would he able to pull you aside for a note here and there but wasn’t overbearing. But he looked at me as a child, a kid. Those people who look at you as a kid, you want to one day stand opposed and let them know you’re not a kid anymore. Lately we’ve been on the right side of things, for example with The Judgment Day and stuff, but he’s still one I’d love to just test it out, shake his hand and then find out who’s better at the actual wrestling that we do. Hall of Famer, he’s the real deal. He’s in that lofty air that very few are in. While he’s here, and he could be here forever, but while he’s here, I’d like to get that one.”

While the actual prospects of Rhodes wrestling Edge is a tad confusing, as both are babyfaces who are over with the crowd, the former AEW EVP is a true student of professional wrestling history and certainly appreciates everything the “Rated-R Superstar” brings to the table. When Awesome mentioned that she would like to see Rhodes take the ring against Lashley, “The American Nightmare” acknowledged that while he hasn't wrestled “The Almighty” before, he would be down to give it a try.

“It would be [interesting]. Bobby and I have, I wanna say never mixed it up, outside of a really brief thing at IMPACT that didn’t lead to an actual match,” Rhodes said. “Maybe that’s all for the better because here it would be fresh and new. Also, I’m off in the oddball style, where my style is a hybrid style of wrestling, a little new, a little old. Bobby is really unorthodox, in terms of how quick he is, his combat sports experience, his size that doesn’t match the quickness. It’s like a bear. Bobby would be a tough task, and especially in the company that Bobby keeps, I feel like they kind of continue to bolster him, as we see that develop. But that would be a very good match. I’d be all about wrestling Bobby Lashley. That’s one of those ones too where I feel almost a little self-conscious because I still like bodybuilding, and the classic [idea of] wrestlers with muscles and stuff. I feel like I look pretty good. That’s one of those guys you stand across from and you’re like, alright, I look okay. This guy looks amazing because that guy’s just with it all the time, dialed in. It’s a good match.”

Would a Rhodes-Lashley feud make sense? Sure, Lashley is one of the big bads on the red brand, and whether Rhodes splits up the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion to just stick on RAW or continues to be a cross-promotional mega-champ, he'll likely still spend most of his Monday night in the ring, and will need a foe who works there too. Still, that's assuming that Lashley survives his current feud with Bray Wyatt, which, after “The Muscle Man Dance” segment, is far from a guarantee.