Cody Rhodes spoke with Robbie Fox of Barstool to promote his new reality show, “Rhodes to the Top,” which premieres on TNT tonight. Here are some of the highlights:
The new show:
“I think the egg was hatched based on our friends at TNT. They are a really wonderful partner in that they are so different from companies I’ve worked for in the past where the company exists, and then the network is it’s own thing. With TNT, Warner Media, and AEW, they have this beautiful synergy and they have this dual interest. It might stem from the fact that we were this challenger brand. We were going to be this alternative, no way it would work, and they were the ones who said it will work, and we’ll support you however we can. So it came from there. It was also something that Tony Khan and Brandi had talked about because if we’re ever going to capture a time in our careers and in our lives, now would be that time to capture it. A company is growing. They are adding another hour of content. It’s planning this and planning that. It’s signing all these free agents. Then on the personal side of things, my life has never been more robust. I never anticipated being a father, and then to find out Brandi was pregnant while we were filming the test for all of this, I think they looked at it and said, ‘We have to put the cameras on, slap some mics on them, and capture this really beautiful time in our lives and in wrestling.”
Finding the time to manage everything going on in his life and in wrestling:
“To be honest with you, I don’t manage to find the time. A lot of stuff slips through the cracks, not the most priority of stuff, but if I was to put it all in perspective at the moment, number one first and foremost priority is father and husband. Career wise, my priority really hasn’t been my in ring career as much as it’s been AEW and being the executive of live events and talent. On top of that, I wanted to dive into community outreach. I thought that’s something we could do a lot more of. We hit every market we go to, big or small, whether the cameras are on or off. The Nightmare Factory is rolling into another camp coming up. We have a few developmental type talents now who are going to be there, not unlike Anthony Ogogo and Jade were with The Factory. We’re at critical mass. Go Big Show Season 2, we just wrapped up that. We’re at critical mass in terms of how much we can continue to do. I think I’m managing it the best I can. I’m putting in as much effort into all of these projects as I can. Oddly, it looks like it’s going to get more and more robust. It looks like we’re adding more to the schedule. Let’s go for it while we’re young.”
