AEW News: Cody Rhodes On Why He’ll Never Be World Champion
Cody Rhodes is arguably one of the biggest babyfaces in the entire wrestling industry, which makes his refusal to ever become the All Elite Wrestling World Champion seem unnecessary. However, the AEW executive vice president has a good reason for his decision, which he revealed during an interview with the Dallas Morning News.
According to Rhodes, he doesn’t want to follow in the same footsteps as his father, Dusty Rhodes. His father was both a wrestler and a booker during his time with Jim Crockett Promotions, and he received a lot of criticism for his main event position within the company.
“When [Dusty] was with [Jim Crockett Promotions], people talk about all that, he made everybody at Crockett rich,” Cody explained. “Him and Ric Flair were the top stars. When you’re the top stars, they’re what the people wanted to see. But they all received that criticism later on, the political aspect of it. I figured I would just take a different path.”
According to Rhodes, AEW chairman Tony Khan was initially against his decision never to become World Champion, but he eventually agreed to support the executive vice president’s plans. The superstar also revealed that he’s perfectly happy at the thought of never representing the company as its main champion, as it won’t prevent him from wrestling in other high profile matches.
“It’s not going to stop me from wrestling. It’s not going to stop me from even main-eventing if the match calls for it. But the title doesn’t belong to me.”
Cody challenges Chris Jericho for the #AEW World Championship at #AEWFullGear Live on Pay Per View – TONIGHT 8/7c
Available on all major providers, @brlive, @fitetv, @itvwrestling pic.twitter.com/Om1irgIBsZ— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) November 9, 2019
Rhodes unsuccessfully challenged Chris Jericho for the World Championship at November’s Full Gear pay-per-view, and one of the stipulations of the match was that he’d never be allowed to challenge for the title again if he lost the match.
Rhodes lost the match in controversial fashion, however, as his manager, MJF, threw in the towel whilst he was locked in a submission hold. Given that the superstar refused to tap out, he didn’t lose the match in a definitive fashion. This left the door open to him potentially challenging for the title again at a later date.
Outside of the ring, Rhodes is also locked in a war over pay-per-view trademarks with Vince McMahon. As The Inquisitr previously documented, Rhodes is reportedly trying to acquire the rights to the names that his father came up with, but the WWE chairman isn’t willing to let him have access to the trademarks without a fight.
