AEW superstar and Executive VP Cody Rhodes spoke to ESPN to talk all things pro-wrestling, including the promotion’s upcoming broadcast schedule, who he hopes to defend his TNT championship against, as well as an update on Mike Tyson and PAC. Highlights are below.
The latest on AEW’s broadcast schedule and whether they’ll add a third-hour to Dynamite:
I think probably in four to six weeks I’ll have a firmer answer on that. That’s still very much the case. The format of that show might be different. It might rely on the production we have in place already, it might not. I know we’ve got all kinds of different plans converging on what we want. The goal of what the third hour would be is to showcase a different crop of talent from AEW. It’s very hard when you have this much talent and you only have a single weekly show. It’s hard to keep people in the mix. As a wrestler, it’s even hard to train for. The only way to train for wrestling is still wrestling. It’s been an adjustment, even without the pandemic.
Who he hopes to defend the TNT championship against in the future:
It depends on the type of dream you’re having. To be fair to your line of questioning, I’ll give you two answers. One is from our world. I’m surprised MJF hasn’t knocked on the open challenge door. I’m surprised we haven’t revisited that. That’s one that I’m legit chomping on the bit, as a performer and competitor, to do again. And then off the top of my head, someone from outside our world, there’s maybe two guys that I hear a lot about. One is my good friend Ethan Page [of Impact Wrestling]. I’ve kind of watched his glow-up continue. … He maybe doesn’t have the God-given talent, but just absolutely will outwork you and will continue to grow up, glow up and mature, which is the key if you’re going to make wrestling your life’s work. Another guy is [current NWA champion] Nick Aldis. That guy and I, we couldn’t be any farther from friends, but there’s this natural bit of respect between us because we did do the two NWA matches and they did have a really warm following. The match at All In, that was one of my favorite moments of my life as a wrestler. And we never finished this. We were 1-1. Now that you ask me this, you’ve opened up a can of worms. I also have split wins with Kenny Omega. That’s somebody, too, I could see that stepping up for the open challenge.
The latest with Mike Tyson in AEW:
I can say that there’s a relationship between Mike and AEW and Mike and Tony Khan. I think that’s a thread that those guys will likely pull, if not now, then in the future.
On when certain stars like PAC can return to the company following COVID-19 pandemic:
We kind of watch the news just like everybody else does. We have some people with their ears to the ground in Washington on perhaps when these borders will open up. I would hope as soon as it does, we can get everybody back here. But there are some hoops to jump through. You’ve got to quarantine — you’ve got to legitimately self-isolate. But this is the greatest job ever, to be a pro wrestler. It’s worth the hoops. PAC is maybe pound-for-pound the best wrestler in the world. We can’t wait to have him back.
