Listen: Brandi and Cody Rhodes Give Wrestlers’ Perspective to AEW
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Wrestlers and husband and wife duo Brandi and Cody Rhodes bring an inside the ring perspective to their executive roles at the nascent All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
Cody Rhodes, executive vice president, and Brandi Rhodes, chief brand officer, spoke on Variety’s “TV Take” podcast with Joe Otterson about their new wrestling league.
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AEW will put on a weekly two-hour wrestling show on TNT starting in Oct. It’s a young organization with young leadership entering a niche dominated by the incumbent WWE, but the couple isn’t afraid. “Youth is something that is going to guide us,” said Cody Rhodes. “Our fingers feel on the pulse of the industry because we’re such fans of the industry.”
The two have been lifelong fans and participants in the sport, which they believe will help their business. “I didn’t go to college,” said Cody Rhodes. “I went to wrestling college. I’ve been around wrestling since I was four-years-old.”
Brandi said AEW is committed to being as inclusive as possible. “We have this wonderful partnership with KultureCity that is making our events more inclusive to people with invisible disabilities,” she said.
When it comes to the diversity in the ring, the two agree it’s just a product of seeking the world’s best wrestlers. “Wrestling is so diverse. when you were looking for the best wrestlers and best minds it wasn’t necessarily a line item. It just came together,” said Cody Rhodes. Brandi Rhodes added, “The best thing about this company is first and foremost we wanted to showcase the best talent in the world.”
AEW recruits talented wrestlers and lets them keep their signature style, according to Cody Rhodes. “You’re music is what we want to hear, we just want to crank it up a little,” he said of his philosophy in integrating wrestlers into the show.
AEW will premiere its weekly two hour show on Oct. 2 on TNT.
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