AEW women’s champion Thunder Rosa recently spoke with NBC Sports Boston to hype this evening’s Dynamite, and discuss a number of pro-wrestling-related topics, including what her relationship is like with company president Tony Khan, and how shocked she was to hear about the departure of Cody and Brandi Rhodes. Highlights from the interview are below.
What her relationship with President Tony Khan has been like:
“I don’t hang out with him as much as a lot of people do. My favorite one was when he was in IMPACT when I went and had my match against Deonna Purrazzo. I had the opportunity to talk to him on a more personal level. So, I love Tony because he is just like a genius. I always say this, like he’s always thinking five steps ahead and you never know where he’s at in those five steps [laughs]. It was really cool to pick his brain on many, many things. He’s just very warm. He’s always been, from the moment I met him, he’s always been very warm and I was like ‘this is kind of weird,’ you know? Your bosses are usually kind of standoffish, but he’s very open. If you have a question, you can call him. You can text him. So, I appreciate that about him and he’s always been like that with me and he’s always been, I’ve said this many times, he’s been very positive and he supports my endeavors outside of wrestling in a way that I don’t ever think another boss would’ve done, and he’s very, very flexible. So, he’s very young, but like I said, he’s very smart and it’s really cool that you can actually have those conversations with him and he’s fun. He’s a fun person to hang out with.”
Says she was shocked to see Cody and Brandi depart AEW:
“I was shocked, honestly. I really respect Cody and Brandi on a personal level. But people have to do what they have to do, right? I sent them a really nice message and I sent a message to both of them. And I was a little sad they were gone because Cody was always, like he always received me with his smile and we used to do a community outreach together. So, he’s the one who I contacted – it was my husband actually to contact him – to get me on the community outreach and it was really sweet to see that part of him and the relationship that he had with the fans. The same with Brandi, she always was like that with Heels, and she was always very active with that stuff. So, when people leave, we have to be flexible and some people have to take roles that people left open for it. So, I wish them nothing but the best and it was a pleasure to work with both of them, definitely.”
(H/T and transcribed by 411 Mania)