AEW Dark has become quite the view for fans of All Elite Wrestling.
The YouTube show has featured some of AEW’s top talents facing up and coming independent stars, and several wrestlers who got their start on AEW Dark have now gone on to be featured talent on Dynamite. Stars like Will Hobbs and Alan Angels were stalwarts of the YouTube show and are now featured regularly on AEW programming, and it has also featured some of the company’s most talked about matches like the recent Ben Carter/Lee Johnson match up.
Who can you thank for the show? If you ask Cody Rhodes, he deserves credit for one thing, and two people for the rest.
Cody spoke to the media today in advance of Full Gear on Saturday, and Cody mentioned who should get credit for the naming the show. Cody was asked about the show and the goals were, especially in reference to bringing in some of the talent they have like Alex Chamberlain and Red Velvet.
“AEW Dark…the title was mine. I wanted to theme it after the Universal Dark monster movies that never happened in terms of its iconography and all of that. The concept was all part of the EVPs and Tony Khan, of course. But where it’s at now, with so many independent wrestlers who are out of work due to COVID and the pandemic coming in and so many matches. Dark is a staggering number of great matches every week, that credit goes solely gone to Tony Khan and his love for the wrestling economy, bringing in some of the people like you named. And we’re finding among that crop of talent, in a much more conducive environment than a straight squash or a straight enhancement, where these competitive matches exist, we’re finding some potential real real diamonds.”
Cody continued to give credit to the coaches for giving the talent on the show long leashes and said he feels he’d want to be on the show if he wasn’t so featured on Dynamite.
“If I wasn’t on Dynamite, I would want to be the king of AEW Dark.”
As he went on, Cody said that Cody would not exist in its current state without Tony Khan and QT Marshall.
“Tony Khan and QT Marshall stay up all night coming with the best Darks for the best people, and it’s really been something that has assisted and supplemented Dynamite, which it was intended to do; helping us find and develop and recruit new talent.
It seems like AEW Dark will continue to be the destination to find the next era of talent AEW recruits as they continue to work with established AEW stars.
Please credit Jonathan McMahon of Bodyslam.net for the transcription if you use any of these quotes.
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