In a recent interview with Busted Open Radio, Cody Rhodes was questioned about WWE using the Great American Bash name for the next two weeks of NXT, going head-to-head with AEW Fyter Fest. Cody’s father, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, was the man who created the Great American Bash concept so this could easily be taken as WWE taking a shot at Cody and AEW. Regardless, Cody is taking the high road and embracing his fathers legacy. The full interview can be found here, or check out some highlights from the interview below:
On Dusty’s involvement in the Great American Bash:
“You know, people, I think, sometimes mistakenly think that Dusty just named Starrcade and Great American Bash. And it’s well beyond just naming them. It’s a matter of s booking them, marketing them, of the creation. My dad always told me that Starrcade was for my sister and that Great American Bash was for me. And obviously at the time he came up with these events, I’m not sure that was actually the case, but that’s what he told me, and that’s why it’s very special, both events, to me and my sister.
On WWE using the name for NXT:
“I’m not going to get angry because it still brings up his name in a positive way. The marketing of the event reminds me a lot of what Disney currently does. If you go to Disney World, they still sell Haunted Mansion shirts and they are all done retro-style. They market nostalgia. If you run a sizzle [reel] with Sting, and Dusty Rhodes, and Hulk Hogan, none of them are going to be there. I’m not really upset about it. I know my sister really just thought it was strange that it was announced willy nilly, last-minute. In the strangest of ways, I would hope that they do something special with it. I think our show is better. I think it will be better in execution, but I hope they do something special with it because I hated what Michael Hayes did with Starrcade. He took a creation of my dad’s and made it a live event because they weren’t selling any tickets in North Carolina and he wanted to save his job. That was disappointing to me, in terms of, that was the premier event of World Championship Wrestling and the NWA, and you did what you did with it. And the same, I hope, is not what happens with Great American Bash. I’m not upset about anything that brings my dad’s name in a positive light. Is it a weird feeling? For sure. But I’ve also been in a tag match with my brother competing ratings-wise against the Dusty Rhodes Classic. One guy I never mind competing with is my own dad. I’ll never mind that. And the Great American Bash, it is what it is. And I would hope they do something positive with it.”
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