Cody Rhodes on How Shaq in AEW Helps Everyone, Discusses His Goals for AEW in 2021

– Hollywoodlife.com interviewed AEW star and EVP Cody Rhodes ahead of tonight’s tag team contest with Shaquille O’Neal. Cody will team with Red Velvet against Shaq and Jade Cargill on tonight’s TNT broadcast. Below are some highlights.

Cody Rhodes on why it’s the right time to have Shaq in AEW and how it helps: “Yeah, I think the people it helps the most are our partners. It would help Jade and it would help Red Velvet and overall, their kind of bursting on the scene will really help bolster the women’s division. If anything, I am a.. Alot of people talk specifically about the Women’s Division, “We go to do the Women’s Division, we got to do the Women’s Division.” And that is very true but the quickest way to bring that ship up is to have individuals getting over themselves. That is the biggest way to reach your hand down and grab your fellow brethren, your sisters and bring them up and in this case, Red Velvet is somebody that is really maximized her minutes in the ring so well and has seized an opportunity and I am very excited to see what they can do. And obviously I am beyond tickled and curious to see Shaq. The guy has all the athletic credentials in the world, plus the genetic gifts to be an athletic giant. And I have only been in the ring with one guy of that stature, and he beat me pretty handedly, so I look forward to the very different me and phase of my career and I look forward to seeing it on Dynamite because it is just a fresh new piece for us. You know, our identity is not fully defined. We are not boxed into anything as a promotion. We are really still in this stage of adolescents as a company and growing up and this is a fun opportunity and I know it is going to be successful. Because the boys, myself included, we are the biggest marks of all and if something can excite us or pop us then usually that could be the same thing for the fans, when the locker rooms are buzzing to see Shaq and meet Shaq, it is going to be a hell of a night!”

Cody Rhodes on if he still plans to wrestle after he turns 40 so his daughter can see him wrestle: “It is so funny,, until you asked, I have never thought about that… And the arbitrary number of 40, people focus, my peers and my boss always poke fun at me now and then, it is just this weird number I had in mind. I could absolutely see her wanting to know what I did, because I had some confusion as a youngster of what my dad did, because he was an executive producer and wasn’t actively wrestling, so I had some confusion And I suppose in a way it is something that I would have to think about. Most importantly I want to bend down and pick them up, that is the main concern. (LAUGHTER) But right now, minus the shoulder and the little dings I have been very lucky on the injury list. That is something to think about. I might have to push it back to 45.”

Cody Rhodes on if he wants more entertainment opportunities with the success of Go Big Show: “I actually am in a point in my career where I wondered… I really… I’m really. I’m so blessed. To be a EVP and have great management around me, because unlike other wrestling companies, right now is when I want to make the merger into scripted soiree, right now is that I am actually loving the Go Big Show and I am loving that experience. I love reliving that experience right now, and AEW allows me to do that. We have a great roster at AEW, a tremendous roster and I am not pulling the weight solely by myself. That frees me up to do the things and as a lifelong wrestling fan, people who watch wrestling their whole life, they will understand this, part of maintaining a fresh wrestling persona is to have to step away every now and then, and it is taking breaks and giving that screen time to others and then to come back and fight for it yourself… that is the real competition that exists behind the artificial competition. So right now, is the time. I am actively looking. I work with Nancy Banks for an acting coach, management set me up with that… They have been so supportive. I really want to really challenge myself with these other forms of art. And if I can provide anything physical to them having been a pro wrestler who tells stories with their body, I would love to do that. Plus fantasy has taken over in every capacity, you know obviously comic book films and all that. We are living in a golden age of Star Trek again, we are living in a golden age of Star Wars! All these things I grew up on, Lord of the Rings! As a fantasy genre individual, there has got to be something and I am actively looking. And there is something for me and I want to get it!”

Cody Rhodes on his goal for him and AEW in 2021: “So I guess the first goal, and I do these interviews and I think I should have a more succinct answer and then I get all wax poetic but I think the big goal for AEW for me in year two and year three is the Warner Media footprint. I look on HBO Max and they got the Snyder Cut and they got South Park and I think there is a place for us there. I don’t want to just be given it, I want to earn it. I want to take it. Warner Media and the offices they have and the people they have are wonderful partners and we have a one to one relationship with them. Honestly, everything I get from them whether it is the Go Big Show or the next step I want to earn it and I want to earn it as a wrestler because wrestling is telling great stories and treading mainstream popularity it hasn’t been in quite some time. And as far as working with other companies and Warner Media and to expand our footprint, expand that trust and build that relationship. But other companies, if were able to do the former than the sky really is the limit. There’s… there’s no rules and I know that sounds crazy. There are no rules at AEW. Tony or myself or the other EVPs, we need to make great content. Wrestling fans have waited so long and they have got the alternative to make great content and to keep in touch and that is the thing. With Impact, AAA and New Japan Pro Wrestling, even WWE. We are entering a whole new world in wrestling. That is always a buzz thing but it is not even remotely been discussed. My responsibility as management is to make sure our locker room is satisfied and trying to do everything we can. This is a bigger world. MLW too, it is a bigger world. You can never insult the fans, you can never do that, they are customers, and they are loyal. They stick with us every week and the things that they fantasize about and dream bookings, we can make them possible in our company in my opinion…”