Heath Slater On His Reaction to Cody Saying ‘No Heath’ in AEW, People’s Perception Of Him in WWE

During his interview with Chris Van Vliet, Heath Slater discussed his reaction and response to Cody’s ‘No to Heath’ response in terms of AEW during a Q&A. Cody was asked during a Q&A if he’d be interested in bringing Slater into AEW after Slater’s WWE release and said “Nope, no on Heath Slater.”

That response, which Cody later said was “said in jest…clearly,” got a response from Slater in which he said, “Damn!! NO. Nope on Heath?? I know you are a new business man but that was a bad business decision.” Slater discussed his reaction to hearing the initial line by Cody and how perception of him is colored by his time in WWE. Highlights and the full video are below:

On his immediate reaction when he saw Cody’s comment: “It was funny ’cause it was, I think it was like two days later one of my buddies sent me a thing of it and was like, ‘Is this true?’ And I like read it, and first thing I thought of was like — one was, I mean, me and Cody, we’ve never had harsh words or nothing, you know? We never disliked each other. But I know how Cody is, you know?. When he said it I was either like, ‘He’s either serious’ — which he very well could be, who knows? — ‘Or he wants a reaction.’ He knows I’m gonna — I’m don’t shut up, you know. I’ll tell you how I feel, you know. And people should know this by now. So, it’s one of those things where I was like, ‘No? Huh. You didn’t even scratch your damn head, even think about it? My goodness.’”

On people’s perceptions of him based on WWE and how it played into his response: “To me, like, a lot of people might see me as Heath Slater: WWE Superstar, jobber, workhorse, always puts the guys over, whatever it is. You know. But in reality, I’m a 14-year vet. My goodness, I have wrestled everyone underneath the daggone sun. Anyone and everyone you can think of, you know? I have been trained by Mr. Hughes, Rocky King, Pistol Pez Whatley, Abdullah the Butcher, Elix Skupper, Bill DeMott, Dr. Tom [Prichard], Norman Smiley, Billy Kidman, Steve Kern, Dusty Rhodes. Like, I have a list of guys have sprinkled stuff on me, you know? To where I’m, ‘Shoot! There’s a lot up here that I could show. But now I’m gonna be able to show what I want, and do what I want. Bad business decision? Hell yes, you know? But you know, this is business. Whatever he wants to choose.”

On Cody saying the tweet was in jest: “Maybe. [grins] But who knows, this is Cody! You never know with him.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.