Cody Rhodes recently made an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, where he discussed a wide range of topics, including his AEW run.
Although Rhodes is no longer in AEW and is busy being a top WWE star, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to see AEW, a promotion he helped launch alongside Tony Khan, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega.
Rhodes said, “I could never have….You ever seen the end of “The Dark Knight”? Again, it’s super convoluted, and I’m not comparing myself to Batman. But there’s a piece of it that’s really important. To certain fans from the AEW fandom, they need the story to be they didn’t want me, they pushed me [out], he was bad, they need that story, they need me to be the villain. I was always fine with accepting that because of the respect I have for it in the first place.How difficult it was to do the original All In, how unbelievable the feeling was to do Double or Nothing. How fortunate we were that Tony (Khan)wanted to invest in this vision and he had a vision as well. How special Matt and Nick (Jackson) in the BTE era and Kenny (Omega) and my rivalry in New Japan especially from a dollars and cents point. That made New Japan more money than anything they ever did and it made Ring of Honor go through the roof at the time. So, regardless of any petty squabbles, I will always have a love for it. I got to wrestle Brodie Lee’s final match. I got to lead young people behind the scenes. I’ll always have a love for it.”
Rhodes added, “I’m sure that [there’s] some negative stuff, but I just remember it lovingly, and I also knew I was leaving. I knew it was a season, I knew this isn’t gonna last, and there’s something greater for me out there. I know that might sound negative to people, but it’s not. That’s the biggest prize, and in the wrestling game, if you put on boots, that’s the one, and I just wanted to go get it, and I had nothing but respect for my time there. I got to sharpen my skills, like Hulkamania in the AWA, right before it came to WWE. It’s the same energy was there, the Renaissance was happening, it wasn’t just company based. It was all there, and I just have a love for it because I got to sharpen my skills. By the time I got to WrestleMania and WWE I felt like okay, I’ve come back a complete package. I’m in command of how the music goes. I’m in command of who the American Nightmare is, and I can know that and understand it better than no writer or producer, thankfully, we have all those things, but yeah, nothing but love. I’m trying to get something bad to say. Nothing but love.”
Rhodes, while thinking of something negative to say, recalled The Young Bucks’ saying in their book that he was the last person among the key EVPs to physically sign with AEW.
Rhodes said, “Oh I got one. This one is juicy. WrestlePurists, get ready. I hated that in The Young Bucks’ book, they said I was last to the signing. Because that’s a big thing, some of the AEW defenders who don’t realize they’re turning people off to their product more than they’re turning people on, that’s one of the things that people always cite ‘Oh, he was last, he wasn’t that big a deal to the origin.’ No, this guy here, who’s off camera, was the first person to ever meet Tony and he met him in a vetting process for all of us. So yes, I guess I was the last, and yes, I had different thoughts, and it’s not incorrect at all what they said [that he was physically the last person to sign with the promotion]. Yeah, it’s not incorrect, but I was just in on it, as was anybody else. That’s a little thing that when I write a book, I get to tell the….[story[].”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
