AEW TNT Champion and EVP Cody Rhodes recently sat down for an interview with ESPN where he spoke about a wide range of topics.
Here are some of the highlights:
If you were to choose, who would be your No. 1 dream match for that AEW TNT title open challenge?
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.
There are some talented names who are not under contract right now. If you could sign any free agent right now to AEW, who would it be?
I think there are two free agents that are on a lot of people’s radar, that being Miro – formerly Rusev – and Matt Cardona, who was Zack Ryder. Obviously, those free agents should be on any radar. They have literally drawn money. They have TV experience. They have high-profile experience. They have locker room experience. The pros heavily outweigh the cons.
Those are two great free agents. I’m not going to go as far to say that if I had to sign anybody, those would be the two that I would sign. But I think they’re great free agents. I think if they have the passion for pro wrestling, they’re going to continue to succeed.
Here’s the trick. We only have a two-hour show. And a lot of our roster hasn’t even been fully realized or seen yet. I want to make sure we honor individuals like that. If you bring in a hot free agent, that means someone is going to lose a spot. That’s just the reality of it. In my capitalistic, cold nature that I have, I actually don’t mind that, because that makes everybody else step their game up. But you do want to do it fairly and responsibly. The best wrestlers, no matter where they came from, you’re going to want on your show.
Check out our official store at PRO WRESTLING TEES, show us your support and buy a shirt. You can visit our store by clicking here.
Make sure to follow us on Twitter @BodySlamNet and on Instagram @BodySlamDotNet
Also check us out on Facebook and give us a like and share by clicking HERE.
