Cody Rhodes is proud of the work he’s done in AEW and stood by what he said earlier about the sports-centric vibe he aimed to portray on the company’s behalf.
In the AEW media call conducted before Saturday’s Full Gear, Cody was asked about the company’s plans shifting since sending out those previous “sports-oriented” notions before Dynamite was ignited in October of 2019. It was noted that the much talked about Dinner Debonair between Chris Jericho and MJF two weeks back was one example of shying away from that, and Cody said that while AEW’s definition may change, he will always be sports-centric.
“I look back at what I said, and sometimes I chuckle a bit because I hit things so hard before the first AEW show cause no matter what we were aiming for and no matter what we envisioned you don’t know until you know,” Cody said. “You don’t know until the lights are on and the red light is blinking and you’re off and beaming across television sets to the world. When I speak of ‘sports-centric’ wrestling, I speak of the wrestling that I grew up on—Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, WCCW, I mean everything that was available to me in the south and that library that still currently exists. I also speak of the current MMA scene that UFC is doing. The current boxing scene in terms of unscripted promos and drama that is existing based on who the people really are or who the people at home who they think they are. So when it comes to sports-centric wrestling, I consider everything I do, me personally, to be sports-centric. I honor my own identity by presenting myself as such because that is who I am.
“You talk about Dinner Debonair—that is who Chris Jericho is. There are different flavors of ice cream that we serve at AEW, and it is very funny to me, some of the modern—I don’t know if pundits is the term? The wrestling journalists that tells you it has to all be one way. That hasn’t worked for anyone you’ve told that to it all has to be one way, so why tell us such? It’s very much different flavors. Chris represents his brand incredibly well, the meta-style that The Young Bucks have is very well, the strong-style approach that Kenny is bringing back into his singles repertoire very much himself, honestly so many different flavors, but I can always stand by what I said then and very much still be able to say it now because what I do as a wrestler, what Cody Rhodes does when he’s on-screen will always be sports-centric because that’s the type of wrestling I love, and that’s the type of stories that I personally like to tell.”
(Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone)
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