Former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes recently appeared on the “Breaking Kayfabe” podcast and commented on his plans for his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) promotion. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On bringing in more new talent: “I’m all for the outlaw, renegade talent. If you invest in somebody, if you trust them and you trust their skill set, it’s quite alright to drop in on All Elite Wrestling and not be a full-time, contracted performer. Roster size had been something that’s been debated. I signed four guys right before we got on the phone, so I’ve had a good day as far as aggressively seeking that fresh talent. Again, we’re a start up and I think the entire roster will probably not be present at Double Or Nothing. Perhaps it will, but we’ve already got our summer show we’re just now lining up in Jacksonville, the charity event there. And we’ll be able to debut some faces and some names there, as well. I don’t want to get in a situation where we have so much that you can’t honor somebody’s skill set.”
On Kenny Omega’s future: “Kenny’s a free agent and not arguably, genuinely, he’s the hottest free agent in the world. One thing I really like about the group of friends and The Elite group is, no matter what he decides to do, if he decides to go to WWE, if he decides to go to AEW, if he continues to only do New Japan Pro Wrestling, he’s still part of The Elite. And everyone supports whatever decision that he makes. I obviously want him to be a part of what’s happening because, who am I kidding, I’m late to the party that is The Elite. I got added in phase 2, he’s an original Power Ranger, if that makes any sense. And I’d really like him to join us but time, and what’s most important to him, will kinda be the factors there. Money is one thing, creative freedom is another.”
On his hopes of working with NJPW: “I mean, right now [OWE is] the first partnership. I know that Chris Jericho and myself, I was just getting a taste of New Japan. What a wonderful, absolutely wonderful company that is! And an absolutely wonderful environment – locker room and really, in the world of sports entertainment, they skew so far toward the sport of pure wrestling. I definitely know that I don’t think it’s the last for me. I’m just speaking for me, I can’t speak for the company in this regard, but I’d like to remain friends. They have various partnerships now, New Japan does. I’d hope that maybe All Elite Wrestling can be one as well.”
On not talking with talent signed to other companies: “It’s been tough because when you’re just one of the boys, you can talk to anybody. But in this new role, legality is incredibly important and we want to be on the up and up. We try to be very careful about making sure we’re not taking to anybody who’s under a specific deal, make sure they’re aware this is why we can’t talk to you. The thing that surprised me a great deal is, we haven’t really had to communicate with anybody on that level because there’s so much fresh, independent talent. When this was announced. I got back from the Rally and my DM’s on social media, on Twitter, just flooded. And they were independent promotions that I’d worked for, and they were suggesting guys. And if they know just how important this is for wrestling, and this is a good thing for wrestling, gosh, it made me feel so good! And a lot of those guys they were right about.”
