Cody Rhodes participated in an AEW conference call and here are some highlights courtesy of Fighful.com’s Sean Ross Sapp and HeelByNature.com:
– Cody Rhodes says he’ll never disparage NXT. Talks about the connection his family has with it. He thinks Kenny Omega was just having some fun and staying in character.
– Cody says he doesn’t use the “Cody Rhodes” name is because he liked being “The American Nightmare Cody” and getting one name over. WWE is not holding the name hostage, he just prefers being Cody and feels like he got the rub off the Rhodes name long enough. Will sometimes though.
– Cody says that the “40 percent of the roster” comment may have stemmed from him being bad at math. He says there’s a lot of roster still left and put over the AAA partnership. Admits there are flavors of WCW Nitro, which had a lot of lucha influence. Cody clarifies and says the roster is about 85 percent full for this initial run of Dynamite. He says they’re focused on long term booking. He says there’s a misconception that any disgruntled wrestlers from WWE can just text him and get a job. He wants to do the AEW crew justice.
– Cody is asked about diversity on the roster. He thinks they’re doing a good job, but the work is never finished. Brandi has been seeking out diverse wrestlers for their product. He thinks African American representation is important for AEW.
– Cody doesn’t want members of the AEW roster to feel the way he did in WWE, underutilized while the company relies on nostalgia.
– Cody says they’re looking into about four or five big PPVs a year and maybe some other supplemental shows. Implies AEW’s PPV after Full Gear will be on the west coast.
– Cody says they’re not living under a rock, they’re going to be aware of the competition. They have to worry about themselves though. They were always going to be on TNT, says that NXT to USA was a reactionary move and that’s not a negative. Says NXT can watch them.
– Cody wants to buy the name “War Games”. Cody says he does have Bunkhouse Stampede and BattleBowl trademarked. He wants someone to reach out to WWE to buy War Games.
– Cody says that AEW will be coming to the UK in 2020.
