Cody Rhodes Suggests AEW Should Buy War Games Back from WWE

Show: Wrestling Epicenter
Guest: Cody Rhodes
Date: 10/01/19
Your Host: James Walsh

We were invited… Here’s the audio of the Cody Rhodes AEW media call from today.

CODY RHODES:

On Young Talent In AEW: “I think, of the utmost importance is introducing this new cast. Bell-to-bell wrestling and sports-centric wrestling, which we’re providing, is wonderful, but there has to be a human connection. You’ve got to know who these folks are. There’s a reason why I went out and started the Road To series, it was to introduce these new characters and we are going to integrate that into Dynamite. You mention Darby and the draw. That’s unfinished business. Darby has made it clear he wants to go one more time. That’s something that we can’t just leave. That was kind of lightning in a bottle and I absolutely look forward to competing and being in the ring with Darby again.”

On Guevara: “I would like to make it clear, that if Sammy Guevara beats me, I’m not going to Full Gear to wrestle Chris Jericho, by no means. Sammy Guevara will be able to take my place if he wins on the first episode of Dynamite. So, the stakes are high.”

On Using The Rhodes Name: “I can use it. I won’t use it though. That’s not everyone’s favorite answer, but I got the rub off that name plenty. The reason I don’t use it is this – this isn’t the romantic Game of Thrones answer that everyone wants, but the reason I don’t use it is, I got so used to being ‘The American Nightmare’ Cody in Japan, and I love that. I love the idea of trying my damnedest to get a single name over. I got the rub off of Dusty and my family long enough. I don’t mind not using it. You’ll see it every now and then, some people, they already know, so if it’s here, it’s here, if it’s not, it’s not. But by no means is WWE holding that name hostage, that is not a real thing. If I was to walk out tomorrow as Cody Rhodes and announced as Cody Rhodes, nobody’s gonna sue us, nobody’s coming after us. There’s a lot of respect between the families that are involved here. So, no. I just like using my first name.”

On Bashing NXT: “Well, I know that my father was rather instrumental in bringing the developmental brand up from the OVW-like situation or the FCW situation that I was in as a trainer, and making it more of a brand. You’ll never hear me disparage NXT. There’s a locker room full of my friends over there and literally if any of you have done the Performance Center tour, you’re going to happen in front of my dad’s boots. I think Kenny was just having a bit of fun and it was something much in character that’s been going on with Being The Elite. I have nothing but good things to say about the developmental brand, and their success they’ve had, and their continued success.”

On Different Match Types: “Well, you mentioned War Games and I’m kind of sitting here thinking to myself. I’d really love to just buy it back and I wonder if they’d be willing to let me just buy it back, because Dusty came up with the match concept, on a napkin in the parking lot. Arn Anderson was there, I’ve got a witness. The one they do now isn’t truly loyal to the old school rules of it. Maybe I can get it back. But the beauty of that – War Games just came out of the experience of being around wrestling, seeing the Four Horsemen build-ups, seeing the good guys and their adversaries, and all of a sudden the light bulb went off. Hopefully a match comes to us the same way.

“We started with the Casino Battle Royale, which was Nick Jackson’s idea of doing almost a layered Royal Rumble, and I think with the women’s one, which was far superior to the men’s one, I think we got the formula for that right. I would really hope that we come up with some great match-ups of our own. I could always steal from my dad but come on, he wouldn’t be proud if I was just yanking all his ideas. I do have the Bunkhouse Stampede on lock-down, if and when we need to, also Battle Bowl, if and when we need to. But I know among us, especially Tony Khan, who seems like he’s coming up with a different match concept every day, I know we can come up with something original. Maybe we float that out, though. Float that out to WWE, see if we can buy War Games.”