All Elite Wrestling star Cody Rhodes, one of the company’s four executive vice presidents, will face partner Red Velvet in a mixed tag match against NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal and Jade Cargill on the March 3 episode of “AEW Dynamite” (8:00 pm). , TNT). Before entering the ring, Rhodes took time for some Q&A with The Post’s professional wrestling writer Joseph Staszewski.
(Edited for clarity and length)
Question: What impact do you think Shaq can have for AEW if you have someone so well known and just people’s curiosity about what Shaq could be as a wrestler?
A: The power of Shaq, if you have any of these like very, very iconic all-American brands, it can’t be underestimated. All I know about (audience) penetration and just the absolute sphere of influence, the closest I could think of is Snoop Dogg himself. That is really exciting for me. It’s actually a big part – not my wrestler job – it’s a big part of the other job (EVP) because as we build this and they come for this Dynamite March 3rd with Shaq, I hope they love everything he and that they love everything we do, but maybe find someone they wouldn’t have known if this is their first attempt at wrestling that they fall in love with and who isn’t in our match. That’s one of the great things about the friction and strength of someone like Shaq.
Q: How did this come about? Was it something he approached you about or was it something you approached him for?
A: What happened is really what fans saw. He tweeted about me (in August 2020) and didn’t know me very much, I think. He just knew he had a show on TNT and we had seen each other in the front and “Dynamite” was kicking and I think he picked an in-house professional wrestler. And I didn’t think much about it, you know, we wrestlers, we love when we see the blue (Twitter) checks, we love when we see people talking about our world.
Next time, you know, QT (Marshall) is calling me like six months ago, so this has been a while. He called me and said, “Hey, I just want to make you aware of something.” If he portrays it like that, I know it will be something with the Nightmare Factory. He said, “I just want to make you aware that Shaq came in and started training. I said send me a video, I have to see it. He’s trained a lot with QT with a few bodies out there that he can throw around and things like that.
It was then that I knew we were in an area where this could really seriously happen. We really jumped on it in the best possible way. QT is really technically responsible for that. He and (AEW President) Tony Khan because he and Tony have a great relationship too. It has wanted itself into existence like so many other things in AEW.
Question: How long has Shaq been training?
A: I don’t interact with him much. I know it is very long when he trains. It took them more than two hours. They’re going from the weight room to the ring and two or three of our better guys bump around, train themselves, and want to be there. They are there almost all night. I’ve never trained with him. He is highly trained by QT. They exercise quite regularly and I am thrilled.
When you are that big. If you came in, not Shaq, if you were that big I would like you to train and learn to do as much as you can, but most wrestling promoters and bookers and companies won’t let you do that much. There is much more of a less-is-more guideline for a legitimate giant. Not many more come into wrestling.
The only thing I’ve thought about in my mind is that I’ve struggled with Big Show so many times. He was simply one of the most valuable teachers to me. He was everything. He was a real opponent when it came to how he handled WrestleMania. He was my first foray into good politics, bad politics, and he was an angel in the ring to wrestle with. It has provided me with some absolutely valuable lessons. So I think a lot about Show as I’ve thought about Shaq, at least they look alike.
Q: You and Shaq are the headliners, but what’s the odds for Jade and Red Velvet?
A: Red Velvet, this is the golden ticket. Everyone loves Red Velvet and she went ahead and said, “I’m not just going to be a replacement.” She and Arn (Anderson) discussed doing that interview (in the “Waiting Room” segment) where I just stood there like a pudding, which was great. I don’t have to do a seven-minute manifesto. When I have one, I’m ready.
I was genuinely impressed and thought she was endearing herself to the audience. I felt like she wasn’t trying to be condescending or gulping down something like that. She really put out her point and walked away and made us think about it. And very sincerely, if there was any doubt as to who should be in that role, she made it all clear as many names were thrown around when (my wife) Brandi got pregnant. And she made it all clear that it was going to be Red Velvet. I was very proud of her and I don’t even know her that well.
As for Jade, this may annoy some people, and I’m only telling you from an optical standpoint, but Jade trains incredibly hard. I know she’s incredibly disciplined. She’s not that nice to me, but she reminds me so much of Chyna’s early stages and in her own unique way. I find out in the little interaction I had with her before she ripped me at the mic, Chyna is her favorite wrestler. I haven’t had that experience with an intern and someone breaking into the industry. For me, to have Red Velvet and Jade and all that is going on with what (women’s champion) Hikaru Shida set up with the women’s tournament, we try to take all the steps we can at a real pace without firing up our presence to strengthen our women on the show.
Q: In your mind, with AEW’s relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, is the door open to those dream matches once the travel restrictions are lifted?
A: I am all AEW, but I am not blind to the potential of these crossovers. I do think that when travel restrictions are lifted there might be crossover competitions, the dream competitions available to us. I know in my heart that there is someone I would love to wrestle with from New Japan. I did not get the chance and the opportunity is running out.
I am a huge fan of The Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi). I like to challenge myself and they have a great selection in terms of (Kazuchika) Okada, Jay White and of course (Kota) Ibushi, who I’ve had to wrestle with so many times, and a lot of people. (Tomohiro) Ishii, my god. There is good potential for crossover elements and good friendly relationships there, but I also never want to forget that we have a full locker room of men and women doing their best to get to this two hour time slot and I always check out AEW first. Just like any other company, I’m probably the most wary when it comes to crossovers.
Question: Dynamite had wrestlers from NWA, Impact and New Japan two weeks ago. Is there an end goal in your boys’ minds: how you want this idea of talent sharing to affect wrestling? It feels like a return to the territory days.
A: I am thinking of “All In” itself. “All In” is a show ROH (Ring of Honor) helped us with Matt (Jackson), Nick (Jackson), I myself did all the work outside of that first element of production and the reason it was important that the three of us doing it was because we were able to make all these old rules go away. That’s a very dangerous and powerful precedent to set when you literally put all the bridges down and all the doors down. Again, this is all hypothetical, but there’s no reason AEW shouldn’t work with New Japan. We are aware of the outside world. Bullet Club is a big part of our blood in AEW. So there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to work with New Japan. There is no reason Jacob Fatu couldn’t take a step from MLW and face me across from the ring.
There’s no reason there couldn’t be a potential WWE crossover one day. And I don’t mean that that’s something that’s been discussed or happening, but none of those rules that exist for other places exist for us. Wrestling is truly a universal industry. The territory reference you made, that’s pretty accurate, but the part that’s most accurate was that there was a real trust.
Eddie Graham and Vince (McMahon) Sr. they exchanged people all the time and made it productive business and they did it in a way that they introduced these characters to New York and before you know it they are introducing these characters to Florida and it kept things fresh because Wednesday night war or not it The most important thing we have to do for fans for the rest of this run – and I want this company to last forever – is to keep it fresh. It can never get stale.
Our doors are open when things are right, when the time is right, when the time is right. Our bridges are down. I’ll be the only silly AEW guy to make sure everything is right.
Question: What is the most important thing that you learned as a son of a professional wrestler that you can use as a father as a professional wrestler?
A: My dad was very tall, and it was because he was a wrestler, because he was true to who you are. He told me around 4 or 5, he said if the teacher asks you, “What does your dad do for a living?” you can tell him I’m a salesman. You can tell him I’m a mechanic. I said to him, “I don’t want to tell them that, I want to tell them you’re a wrestler.” He said, “That’s what I want too. Never feel the pressure to do it.” That really shaped my whole childhood. I wore a leather jacket in 3rd grade, everyone laughed at me. The next day I wore that leather jacket again and the next day. That was sort of growing up with such a father character and a larger than life personality.
And where I grew up, people really looked at our family because we were just like the circus. He was adamant about just being true to who you are, to the point where I said it in that funeral home, and they asked me what you wanted to say. It’s like a flashback. The man said I can say he has a college degree and I stopped him and I said, “Just write a professional wrestler.” He was. So for me that was a great lesson that I hope I can pass on to my own child.