During a recent appearance on “The MMA Hour” podcast, WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes addressed the scathing remarks made by former AEW World Champion CM Punk regarding Tony Khan’s company and his invocation of backstage issues.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On CM Punk’s assessment of AEW: “That’s his assessment. It’s not my assessment. It’s important for me to remind people that I am so proud of what me, Matt, Nick, Kenny, Tony, Bernie, Brandi, Dana, and Chris. I name all these people because I was in those meetings. As much as the internet will try to spin a narrative one way. If one of those people had not been at that start-up level, the company would not have happened. I am so proud of what was created. I am so insanely proud of what it does for the industry overall, for wrestlers and their well-being, and their ability to feed their families. I have an unbelievable love for so many people in that locker room, including the Bucks and Kenny. We’re bonded forever over this thing that we did. It’s not my assessment. In my time there, the infrastructure was just being built up. We were trying new things and doing new things. It was a start-up company. A big-time start-up company, but a start-up company. I wish them nothing but the best.”
On not foreseeing the issues with Punk, but expecting issues between newer stars: “I don’t think I foresaw any of those issues. I did kind of predict, it was unrelated to those guys, but I do remember predicting that there were going to be certain guys who had been there, who wanted to wave the banner, ‘Hey, you’ve not been here,’ and then brand new guys, you always need fresh blood, like Punk coming back to WWE is a great call. I think those always would mesh.”
On what happened in AEW being the result of misunderstandings and miscommunications: I just think what happened there is a ton of misunderstanding, a ton of miscommunication. You will see on indies and wrestlers that aren’t properly trained. I’m not talking about bullying etiquette, but you do need to have a little old school in you to know the collaborativeness of what this is. I think they were ships in the night. I love Matt, Nick, and Kenny, and I love CM Punk. I don’t know how, but I do. I’m happy for everyone involved. I think it was a ship in the night thing. I wasn’t there though.”
