Cody Rhodes On AEW’s Future Goals For The Forbidden Door, Biggest Thing He Learned After Leaving WWE

In a recent interview on In the Kliq, Cody Rhodes discussed AEW’s future goals for “The Forbidden Door,” the biggest thing he learned after leaving WWE, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Cody Rhodes on whether there were concerns revealing too much behind-the-scenes wrestling aspects on Rhodes to the Top: “I’m the most old school wrestler, currently, in wrestling, and I am part of a show that completely pulls the curtain backward. So, there’s a huge irony there, but here’s the reality – we’re not the first to do this. The curtain was already pulled back. So, to me, it’s more insulting in 2021 or 2022 if you’re trying to put up firewalls. That’s like inventing a time machine. We can’t go back in time, we’re moving forward. Look at the speed of the actual sport, of actual pro wrestling. Look at how the matches have changed. We’re moving forward. There’s certainly things you can steal and take from the past, but again, it is a reality show. And to me, it would be more insulting to the wrestling fan if it wasn’t a reality show. It definitely took a lot of explaining for me, but for the most part, everyone understood that, and even better, the larger part of it, the fans who have kind of come out in droves for this and shattered the expectations of the show, they’ve understood it. That’s been a good feeling for me and for Brandi, and if anything, it looks like you’ll be seeing more of it.”

Cody Rhodes on future goals for “The Forbidden Door” in AEW: “The Forbidden Door, aka Tony Khan, is truly open. We have no qualms about working with anybody from any company. We are focused on the AEW product and the homegrown AEW stars. Stars like Sammy Guevara, for example, we have that. We have the ability to cross the streams. I just want to continue to make the show destination programming, which it’s become. I want to continue to provide some of our free agents that have just joined us some fresh pathways that they can go on, which include a variety and myriad of dream matches, and then continue to cultivate the Dante Martin’s and Moriarty’s, these fresh, beautiful, brand new, innocent children who are joining the wrestling business and are so talented. That’s the goal. There’s a lot of wrestlers out there will continue to grow the roster. More the merrier because we continue to grow our footprint on Warner Media so we want to give them the best wrestling, and currently, we do that.”

On the biggest thing he learned after leaving WWE: “The number one thing I learned, other than to reconnect with the fans and get the love from them that I had needed at the time, is not to be in a bubble. For a decade, I had been in the bubble of WWE, and then the fact that AEW was able to happen proves that there was things outside the bubble. There might even have been a bigger bubble, but even with that, okay, I can’t get into a bubble with New Japan. I can’t get into a bubble in Impact. I can’t get into a bubble in Ring of Honor. All great places, but wrestling has to be for everybody. It really does, and it has to represent everybody. So that’s the number one thing is not to just be this single company individually bubbled up, basically unaware of what’s out there. Prime example, I’m aware of Jacob Fatu at MLW. I’m aware of these things that are happening in our industry, and I think everyone, from top to the bottom, Tony Khan, at the top, is aware of what’s out there and how perhaps we can connect to it.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit After the Bell with Corey Graves with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.