Tag: Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes Issues Lengthy Statement Ahead Of AEW Dynamite Premiere

AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes took to Twitter yesterday and posted a lengthy statement ahead of next Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite premiere on TNT.

Rhodes admitted to being nervous and scared of the big premiere, and acknowledged what kind of machine he’s going up against in WWE. He also credited the ones who help make AEW happen, including Tony Khan. Cody noted that he’s learned from some of the top minds in the business, including Randy Orton and Vince McMahon, and that he had the best training possible for this job.

You can read the full statement below:

“We’re eight days out from the most significant night in wrestling in my lifetime. I just wanted to share these thoughts with our incredible fans, whose unbridled passion and support have led us to this moment.

This raging fire within wrestling today ignited long before I hit the independent scene. There was the hot ticket and style of PWG, Colt Cabana building a brand for himself without the reliance of a large corporate backer, the narrative ‘pipebomb’ promo that spoke heavy truths into our business, The Young Bucks creating a vlog to connect deeper with fans, and much more.

After an 11-year stint at WWE, there was that fateful bet that I couldn’t promote a show, which ultimately drew 10,000+ fans at ‘All In’ a year ago. My stubborn ability to believe that I could expand my work-rate even further and forge powerful connections across the barricade were also driving forces in my life. And, of course, there was Tony Khan, the lifelong wrestling fan who wanted to invest his business acumen, passion and sphere of influence with four guys aspiring to create an alternative product.

All these cumulative factors would still not have gotten us today without the largest and loudest factor of all: pro wrestling fans. This includes the growing number, and often shadow market, of fans who for some reason or another felt disillusioned by the current product and went searching for the alternative that truly spoke to them.

My gratitude is extended in anticipation of AEW: Dynamite, but even if Wednesday October 2, was the first and only AEW show, what has happened now in wrestling cannot be undone. Wrestlers now have a chance for better pay and a healthier schedule, and the doors have been opened wider to a wrestling show more congruent with the diversity of our current society. This isn’t because of AEW. It’s because of you, the fans – from diehard to brand new. And, the changes in wrestling aren’t exclusive to AEW. This progress can now permeate all promotions.

I would ask you this one favor as we move forward: speak to me. John Cena once told me that when the fans clap their hands or stomp their feet or give a visceral indicator that they want something, you need to DO something. Otherwise, they will stop making noise Please share your feedback with me I want all of it. Good, bad, ugly. What we did right, what we did wrong, and why. Let me help create and tailor a product for you.

In 2015 when I unexpectedly lost my Dad, I was very broken. I sought comfort in my friends and family, but what I think helped me most were the bright lights and ferocious passion of our fans. Perhaps to an outside this may sound melodramatic, but it truly ‘fixed’ me in ways that are impossible to describe. The accusation that pro wrestling is artificial has never phased me because I know the feeling of a family enjoying a show that raucous laughter of fans, the collective gasps when we test the limits of our bodies, and the overall escape we provide as an industry. There’s nothing artificial about that It’s a damn important service.

I’ve had the best education one could ever receive for this job. A pro since age 15. Eleven years under the learning tree of such minds as Randy Orton, Vince McMahon, Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko and countless other legends. And, of course, the three decades I spent talking wrestling every day with The American Dream himself.

I know what’s on the other side of the hill. A billion-dollar publicly traded behemoth with 70 years of experience and an expansive network of divisions and subsidiaries, which has ultimately become a monopoly in wrestling.

Yeah, I’m a bit nervous. I’m a little scared, too. But I’m saddling up in DC anyway along with the best partners and wrestlers on the planet. I’m with AEW because AEW is for everybody, and I hope everybody tunes in and gives us a chance to shine for you.

Thank you!”

https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1176625115657834504

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Cody Rhodes Says There Could Be A Third Hour Of AEW Content On Wednesday Nights

AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes spoke with IGN about All Elite Wrestling’s upcoming debut on TNT. The show will premiere on Wednesday, October 2 from 8-10 pm ET.

During the interview, Rhodes revealed that a third hour of content could be filmed each week that won’t air on TNT, but rather B/R Live. Since the company plans on rotating talent on and off TNT each week, they want to make sure they are still keeping the wrestlers engaged with their audience.

“It will probably live for people to stream on B/R Live,” Rhodes said. “We have a lot of resources and we want to make sure that people can plug into the wrestlers who we signed who they’re fans of. We’re going to try and keep everybody busy.”

Yesterday, NXT began its run on the USA Network, transforming into a live two-hour, weekly show to go head-to-head with AEW. This week—in select markets—AEW ran commercials during both SmackDown and last night’s NXT.

As noted earlier this week, per the Xfinity TV guide, AEW’s weekly show will be called “All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite.”

Below is the updated line-up for the AEW on TNT premiere from Washington D.C. on October 2:

* Jon Moxley appears live
* Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara
* The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega vs. AEW World Champion Chris Jericho and two mystery partners
* Nyla Rose vs. Riho to crown the first-ever AEW Women’s World Champion
* MJF vs. Brandon Cutler

Chris Jericho To Defend AEW World Title Against Cody Rhodes At AEW Full Gear

Chris Jericho will face-off against Cody Rhodes at Full Gear and AEW President Tony Khan says the challenger earned the opportunity due to his win-loss record.

Sports Ilustrated broke the news for AEW, with Khan telling the publication:

“Cody’s outstanding record in singles competition has secured him the number one contender ranking, and he will be challenging AEW world champion Chris Jericho in the first ever pay-per-view defense of the championship on November 9 in Baltimore at Full Gear.”

“Cody earned this opportunity over the summer as he remained unbeaten in singles bouts, scoring pins on a pair of proven veterans, defeating his older brother, the legendary wrestler Dustin Rhodes at Double or Nothing, and beating bitter rival and former partner Shawn Spears at All Out—and battling to a draw with the exciting upstart Darby Allin at Fyter Fest.”

AEW execs have heavily stressed that the promotion will focus on wins and losses mattering. This is the first indication of how that will play a part going forward.

“Full Gear” will also feature Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

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Cody Rhodes Responds To Vince McMahon’s ‘Blood And Guts’ Comment

During a recent conference call with WWE investors, Vince McMahon made reference to AEW featuring “blood and guts” … and now Cody Rhodes has responded to his former boss.

In case you missed it, McMahon talked about plans to loosen up the family friendly nature of WWE programming during the call and made a few subtle digs at AEW in the process.

“There will be something we do in terms of a direction of content — more controversy, better storylines, etcetera,” Vince explained. “But at the same time, we’re not gonna go back to the quote ‘Attitude Era,’ and we’re not gonna do blood and guts and things of that nature, such as being done on perhaps a new potential competitor.”

He also said WWE has graduated from “gory crap.”

In a new video for AEW promoting tickets to their October 2 debut television show taping on TNT, Cody didn’t shy away from responding and stated:

“Recently there were some very public comments made about us where we were referred to as ‘blood and guts.’ Blood and guts. And it was said with such a braggart candor that you would think the person saying it felt that they were bullet proof. But I wonder, before they said it, if they tasted their own words before they spit them out. Because the entirety of our business is built on blood and guts. Every man or woman who ever stepped foot in the ring — regardless of race, color, creed, political affiliation, sexual identity — has felt blood and guts and PASSION! Because if we don’t care, they don’t care. So if you say we’re blood and guts, I say you bet your ass we are blood and guts.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Cody Rhodes Vs. Sammy Guevara Announced For AEW On TNT Premiere Episode

Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara has been announced for the first-ever AEW on TNT TV episode.

AEW on TNT will premiere live from 8pm – 10pm ET on Wednesday, October 2 from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC. Tickets go on sale this Friday via Ticketmaster and AEWTix.com, and will cost $250 (within the first three rows of floor ringside sections, seat location includes an AEW-designed commemorative take-home chair once the event is over), $90, $75, $50, $35, and $20.

It’s believed that the title of the AEW TV show will be revealed soon, along with dates and locations for the other upcoming TV tapings.

https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1156233150525321216

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Cody Rhodes To Release New Book For Kids

AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes will be releasing a new children’s book on Monday, July 15 via Amazon and bookstores nationwide.

This will be the second book in “The Elite Team” series from Trism Books, and will retail for $16.95. Titled “Cody Heart of the Mountain,” the book comes eight months after “Young Bucks Stand Tall” was released, written by The Young Bucks.

Below is the full announcement on the book along with comments from Cody and book signing dates:

CODY RHODES INSPIRES NEXT GENERATION WITH CHILDREN’S BOOK THAT CHAMPIONS TEAMWORK— “Cody Heart of the Mountain” is Second Book in The Elite Team Series, Available July 15 on Amazon & Bookstores Nationwide —

CHICAGO, IL (July 10, 2019) – Within seven months of successfully launching All Elite Wrestling, EVP Cody Rhodes today added a new title to his impressive repertoire – Children’s Author. Cody Heart of the Mountain, the second book in “The Elite Team” series, will be available on Monday, July 15, on Amazon and anywhere books are sold including Barnes & Noble, Target and Indiebound.

Cody Heart of the Mountain teaches children that everyone has unique abilities, even their perceived enemies. By working together, readers learn they can overcome obstacles to unite the world. The engaging tale takes young readers on a sci-fi journey where nothing is as it seems. While camping in the wilderness, Cody and the Elite Team (Matt & Nick Jackson, Brandi Rhodes, Hangman Adam Page, Kenny Omega), fall under Claw Mountain’s powerful spell. The friends take on bear and wolf qualities as two rival groups form. Divided by mistrust and jealousy, Cody must find a way to lead the team back together. Will the friends be able to work together and embrace their differences in order to break the spell?

“When I was eight years old, I went camping with my family, and my Dad told me that if I woke up early enough he would take me to see the bears who lived on the adjacent mountain,” said Cody Rhodes. “According to him, I never woke up early enough (wink wink). But, I never really needed to see the bears because he would tell me a version of the story in this book as a bedtime story many times. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend, right? Bringing this story to life was a labor of love. It was truly special watching Dylan Coburn masterfully bring the words to life as well as working with Trism Books to provide a positive message to children and adults alike. I hope you enjoy.”

Published by Trism Books, Cody Heart of the Mountain will retail for $16.95. The book comes eight months after Young Bucks Stand Tall, which follows brothers Nick and Matt Jacksonthrough an inspiring story that encourages young readers to follow their dreams.

Cody will be signing his book in-person at the following locations over the upcoming weeks:

• July 14: 12pm-1pm @ Barnes & Noble in Jacksonville, FL

• St. Johns Town Center, 10280 Midtown Parkway, Jacksonville

• July 19: 6pm-7pm @ Dave and Buster’s in Marietta, GA o 2215 D and B Dr SE, Marietta Click here for more.

• August 29: 12pm-2pm @ Pro Wrestling Tees in Chicago, IL

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Dustin Rhodes Talks About His Match With Cody At AEW Double Or Nothing – His Look, Bleeding So Much

From Goldust to Seven to The American Nightmare, Dustin Rhodes has had many different gimmicks and looks over the years. He debuted a new look against his brother Cody at Double or Nothing, and Dustin credits Cody with help inspiring his new costume.

Dustin talked more about his look at Double or Nothing when he joined Talk is Jericho.

“Me and Cody were talking about it and we were like, what do we do? He didn’t want just Dustin. He had his vision of what he wanted and he kind of left it in the ballpark of me and my faith to create something for my face,” said Dustin. “I had asked him what he was looking for? Did he want me in trunks? Did he want me in jeans? Did he want me in my old Dustin Rhodes gear? He said no, he didn’t want the cowboy carney ass bullsh*t he would say. He said that he really wanted me to look the very best that I can.”

Dustin said his look was a combination of previous costumes and new designs. He also said he worked his tail off to get in the best shape he could in order to go sleeveless, but he also said “Cody is the only Rhodes with abs.”

“He said that I was the artist on the paint and all that stuff to come up with something. I did it; I showed him some pictures. He loved it and Tony Khan loved it and that was it.

“I looked at the Darth Maul character [from Star Wars] as well. One of the paint jobs that I did for Goldust was kind of Darth Maul-ish but if I did the Darth Maul like Darth Maul, I just reversed the colors. I reversed the color so that it wouldn’t be a complete rip-off of Darth Maul. I added just a little bit here and there and I think it came off looking really good.”

Dustin donned a crimson mask during the match and left himself, Cody and the ring covered in blood. He was a bit nervous about there being so much blood at first, but in the end all of the blood helped tell the story between he and his brother.

“I know a lot of people were worried. I was worried. You do it and you saw it streaming out and it’s like, oh no, I went a little bit too deep and then 10 minutes go by and you’re like now I’m starting to worry a little bit,” admitted Dustin. “The ring is all red. I can’t see; it’s all in my eyes. I am trying to wipe it out but it just keeps shooting out to my heartbeat. It gets scary, but then after 15 minutes I’m like, I’m going to be okay. It’s going to be fine. You saw the fans’ faces in the front row and in the arena they are just horrified but into it. They can’t take their eyes off of it and it was an incredible man. I was so happy. I was so glad to be a part of that and I hope I did Cody proud.

“To me, I have always been told that red on the head is green in the pocket. I believe that to be true to an extent when it is used sparingly here and there. It was just right in every way that night. It might have been a little bit excessive but it added to the story. It added to the emotions and it just felt incredible and I am still on a huge high from this match. Twitter has never blown up for me like that and all of the social media is going crazy and to tell me that I stole the show from the great Chris Jericho that means a lot to me.”

Source: Talk Is Jericho via Wrestling Inc.

WWE Hall Of Famer Ted DiBiase Sr. Praises Cody And Dustin Rhodes For AEW Double Or Nothing Match

WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase Sr. took to Twitter this week to praise Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes for their match at AEW Double Or Nothing.

“They stole the show, folks. @CodyRhodes vs @DustinRhodes had the makings to be a great match. It exceeded that & delivered something special. Cody & Dustin are very talented. Versatile students of pro wrestling. Dusty would be very proud. Dustin showed 50 is the new 30,” DiBiase wrote.

You can see The Million Dollar Man’s full tweet below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Cody Rhodes Trademark Refused Due To Similar WWE Trademark, Update On Other Trademark Applications

It was reported earlier this year that Cody Rhodes has filed to trademark the “Bash at the Beach” name. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has given an initial refusal to the application because of the likely confusion with WWE’s registered trademark for “The Bash” for an old pay-per-view.

Cody’s trademark application for “Dusty Rhodes” was also given an initial refusal by the USPTO because of the likely confusion to the “Dustin Rhodes” trademark that’s registered to his brother, Dustin Runnels.

The USPTO did approve Cody’s other trademark applications for Bunkhouse Stampede, BattleBowl, The American Nightmare, The American Dream, and The Prince of Wrestling. They will be published for opposition at a later date.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Cody And Brandi Rhodes Say That There Will Be No Scripted Promos In AEW

Yesterday was a historic day in the world of professional wrestling as it was officially announced that AEW will be airing in prime time on TNT later this year. With the deal, AEW has become the first wrestling company outside of WWE to secure a television deal in the U.S. on a top 25 cable network since WCW folded.

At yesterday’s WarnerMedia upfronts in New York City, AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes and Chief Branding Officer Brandi Rhodes spoke with WrestlingNews.co about the big announcement.

“This is serendipity how this is coming together,” Cody said. “My family moved to Atlanta 20+ years ago because WCW was going to Turner. Here we are talking about All Elite Wrestling in 2019 going to Turner. It’s just wild how it works and the number 1 thing I discovered is we build the best team. That’s what led to all of this. All In happened, me, Matt and Nick, Kenny joining and then Tony Khan being the guy to say ‘hey, I believe in you guys. I’ll invest in you guys, I believe in wrestling outside of one company.’ That has put us here so I’m really excited.”

AEW plans to offer a real alternative to WWE programming. One of the major criticisms about WWE has been their scripted promos. Cody claimed that “you might not see one scripted promo” on their television.

“When it comes to promos, if we invested you, we already know your voice,” Cody said. “We just want to put the voice out there for more people to hear. There’s great coaches we have, great collaborators. Guys like Jim Ross, guys like Billy Gunn, a bunch of guys I can’t name. We have these great collaborators, plus all of us who want to make this work. Collaboration yes, micromanagement no, scripted no, that’s the best.”

“We’re honest when we say that we want it to be very sports-centric,” Brandi added. “In order to do that, it has to be focused on the bell-to-bell, the actual matches, less of the drama and the behind-the-scenes.”

Brandi also said that the company plans to keep their roster active and not sitting on the sidelines.

“We’ve obviously been cautious in building our [women’s] division because we don’t want people to be sitting weeks and weeks out of the year not being active, not being used, not being having stories, not having reasons for you to like them,” Brandi stated. “So we’ve been very careful to pick and choose competitors that we think we are gonna be able to keep moving in some sort of sense.”

Despite all of the major developments, AEW has yet to run their first show. AEW’s first pay-per-view, Double Or Nothing, will take place next Saturday night in Las Vegas. Cody said that the company plans to make the event a great one.

“Jim Ross has been really good about saying ‘it can’t be good, it’s gotta be great.’ He’s right and everyone in the group shares that sentiment,” Cody said. “We gotta make this great and it’s just the beginning. It’s the perfect jumping in point for a brand new fan. There’s nothing before this, just jump in now and you’ll love it.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.