During an interview with Monsters and Critics Reality, Cody Rhodes addressed claims that he has “buried” other talent over the years:
“There’s this online outlook on me [that suggests] that all I do is bury talent. Gosh, I feel like I spent three years introducing talent and I wrestled a pay-per-view against an absolute rookie. That’s the job though. I love that part. Darby is somebody who’s just blowing everyone away. I’m glad people get to see that side of Ricky and I think he will be, too, because Ricky presents himself as so confident and suave. But you can’t forget that Ricky is new into our industry. He showed up for the TNT open challenge. He didn’t win the match, but he won himself a job, and now, TV wrestling is far different than independent wrestling, and seeing Ricky navigate that space and emerge on such a level that he has — I’m very proud of both those guys Darby and Ricky.”
