Cody Rhodes is the hero AEW deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So they’ll hunt him because he can take it; because he’s not a hero. He’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector, an American Nightmare.
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes was a recent guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet. When asked about the fact he’s never said anything bad regarding his time in All Elite Wrestling and taken the high road instead, Rhodes compared the end of his run in AEW to the ending of the Batman movie, The Dark Knight.
“I don’t know if I consider it the high road,” Cody Rhodes admitted. “Maybe it is, how could I not right? How [my run in] AEW ended was terrible really. And people are going to write books later on, and these stories are going to get out there, and then it’s going to be a whole new ballgame.
“But the actual experience and everything we did, I mean, and you’re included in that, I’m in this Miami hotel and we did our interview. No, I could never — have you ever seen the end of The Dark Knight? I think that’s, again, it’s super convoluted, and I’m not comparing myself to Batman, but there’s a piece of it that’s really important.
“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 and 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 [were] in the BTE era and Kenny 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. I mean, Ring of Honor going 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 people, young people behind the scenes. I’ll always have a love for it, so the idea that — I’m sure there’s some negative stuff, like, oh, this sucked, but I just remember it lovingly. And I also knew I was leaving. I knew it was a season. I knew this isn’t going to last, and there’s something greater for me out there.
“And I know that might sound negative to people, but it’s not. Because that’s the biggest prize in the wrestling game. If you put on boots, that’s the one. 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 and the AWA right before it came to WWE, it’s the same. Like the 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. And 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, this is how the music goes. I’m in command of who the American Nightmare is, and I can know that and understand it better than a writer or producer. And thankfully, we have all those things. But, yeah, nothing but love.”
READ MORE: Cody Rhodes Doesn’t See A Heel Turn Happening In His WWE Future
What do you make of Cody Rhodes’ comments? Do you understand his comparison of the end of his AEW run to the conclusion of The Dark Knight movie? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit INSIGHT with a link to this article for the transcription.
