All Elite Wrestling superstar and VP Cody Rhodes spoke with IGN recently about AEW’s weekly television show that begins next month on TNT. Rhodes discusses how he would prefer “quality over quantity” for each episode, which means they don’t plan on using their talent the same way that WWE does.
We’re going to try and present quality over quantity, which means that some guys are going to have some time off. Which for the life and the well-being of a wrestler is a great thing to hear; that they’re not gong to be, every week, putting themselves in a high-profile singles match. That, every week, they’re not going to be in a barn-burner tag. It’s going to be a very different show each week. We’re not going to try and cram everybody on the two-hour show. There’s no participation award here.
We want to provide bell-to-bell sports-centric pro-wrestling. That’s going to mean longer matches. That’s going to mean stories being told between the ropes. That means no invisible camera backstage. That’s gonna mean more of a live-sports approach to our product. That’s 100% what we’re doing, so I want to avoid any reactionary elements. I loved the Monday Night Wars, I did. And I’m not trying to be naive and ignore a situation where it’s like ‘Hey, if this happens, we’ll have to play this card,’ but I’m just saying I want us to be more about our young and upcoming crop of talent.
He also wants to highlight younger talent, which he makes a point of by bringing up AEW’s first scheduled televised matchup between himself and Sammy Guevara.
I’ll give you a great example: the very first match you’re going to see on TNT is myself versus Sammy Guevara. I can’t sit here and tell you that Sammy Guevara’s got all the potential in the world because it makes him so angry. He’s so full of piss and vinegar and genuinely thinks he’s the best and that’s the type of thing we want to put out there. People like Jurassic Express, which is Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy. People like Sonny Kiss. Kip Sabian. Obviously, my best friend in the whole world too, Maxwell Jacob Friedman. I just want to stick to our word, that we gave fans back at the beginning
Later, the American Nightmare talks his title matchup with Chris Jericho currently scheduled for Full Gear, again explaining how win-loss records are going to mean something in AEW.
This is one of the positive uses of ‘card subject to change. I’m coming off a win over Dustin, one of the best of all time, and coming off a win over Shawn Spears, who’s an absolute stud. Those were two huge wins. So me going for the title makes all the sense in the world. But it may not end up being me versus Chris Jericho. Because Chris Jericho still has a title defense before that in Philadelphia. And it may not be me if I take a loss to Sammy Guevara on the premiere episode. I think Chris Jericho is probably going to get through his first title defense, but if he doesn’t we’re going to stick to our word about win/loss records being a deciding factor. It’s really about the data and who has the best record.
Check out the full interview here.
