WWE Champion Cody Rhodes spoke during a recent interview with Peter Rosenberg about the change in the narrative of the creation of AEW. Rhodes voiced how he finds the diminishing of his role in AEW’s creation disappointing.
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Cody Rhodes is the current Undisputed WWE Universal champion and has become the face of the new era of WWE. However, before he became champion he was a part of ushering a new era of professional wrestling in general. He did this by helping to found the number two wrestling promotion in the United States, AEW.
However, the narrative surrounding Cody Rhodes’ involvement in founding AEW has changed over time. On a recent episode of Cheap Heat, Rhodes talked about his feelings on how his role in founding AEW has been diminished and why he has a hard time rooting against AEW. The WWE Champion stated:
“The narrative changed a lot about my contributions to AEW and that was very disappointing. There were some people, I’m not going to say their names. They know who they were, who kind of tried to put some propaganda out when I left. There’s a quote in The Young Bucks’ book about how I was last to the signing. And me and Matt, Nick, are as close as ever. I’m so glad that I’ve had them in my career, in my life, but if we are being honest, AEW does not happen without me. It doesn’t. With that in mind, I could never root against it.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for transcription
Cody Rhodes’ Involvement in the Creation of AEW
The story behind the founding of AEW is one with Cody Rhodes being heavily involved. In 2017, Dave Meltzer said Ring of Honor could not sell more than 10,000 tickets for any of their events. This was a feat no US promotion had been able to achieve since WCW died. Rhodes and the Young Bucks were in ROH and NJPW at the time and took it as a challenge.
Rhodes along with others began building an event called All In in which they would try to find the best indie wrestlers in the world for their event. The event featured some of the top AEW talent of today including MJF, Britt Baker, Hangman Page, Penta El Zero M, and Kazuchika Okada. The event sold out in 30 minutes and sold over 10,000 tickets. It was the first US promotion to do that which was not WWE or WCW since the 1990s.
The success of All In showed the world that there is room for a new US wrestling promotion. In the coming months trademarks were filed for All Elite Wrestling and AEW was born. Rhodes along with The Young Bucks and Omega would serve as executive vice presidents with Tony Khan being the president and the money man. For over three years, Rhodes was heavily involved in AEW before he left in 2022 for personal reasons.
Despite being the top guy in AEW’s rival, Rhodes can’t help but cheer AEW on. He also voiced the importance of AEW lasting as he thinks the wrestling world would suffer without it. Cody Rhodes continued during his interview with Rosenberg:
“It’s very important that they [AEW] hang in there. Because if that was to go away I don’t think anybody in the locker room has any clue the financial repercussions that would have on the wrestling business. The trickle down effect it would then have on independent wrestling. We’ve created a really comfortable environment in sports entertainment, for men and women to feed their families and to do well … I would hate to see that bubble burst. So that’s another random fear I have, when they’re down or if they’re up or whatever it may be.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for transcription
AEW has become a strong option for wrestlers to work and get paid a decent salary if they can’t get signed by WWE or other promotions. It is another option for wrestlers to make a name for themselves and to make a living in their chosen field.
Meanwhile, Rhodes has become the top babyface in WWE and dethroned the longest-reigning champion of the modern era, Roman Reigns. Rhodes’ first televised championship defense will be against a former WWE champion in AJ Styles. The two men will meet this Saturday at WWE Backlash France at the LDLC Arena in Lyon-Décines, France.
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Do you think it is right for people to diminish Cody Rhodes’ involvement in AEW? Do you think AEW would be around without All In and Cody Rhodes? Should Rhodes still root for AEW even though he is gone? Would the wrestling business suffer without AEW or would a different indie pick up the slack? Let us know on social media if you think WWE will have Rhodes lose his championship against Styles just to show that it will change hands more often now.
SOURCE: Cheap Heat, Wrestling Inc.
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