Cody Rhodes On If AEW Will Ever Run A Joint-Promoted Show
Since fans got their first taste of All Elite Wrestling (before it was branded as such) at 2018's All In, many have wondered if AEW would ever explore running a joint-promoted show similar to what Cody and the Young Bucks did with that event. The show featured wrestlers from Ring of Honor, NWA, and NJPW, and was promoted on weekly ROH television. While All In was an undeniable success, The American Nightmare revealed to App.com that he does not see a similar joint-promoted show in AEW's future.
"I think you'll never see a full-scale, like, joint-promoted show [between AEW and another promotion]," Cody said. "We have too much pride in our individual brand. But in terms of the relationships, we're never closing the doors and we're never going to pull up the bridges."
Some assume that because of AEW's individuality, they do not have working relationships with other promotions. However, Cody says its quite the opposite.
"I laughed when I heard people talking about a working relationship with New Japan because clearly it already exists," Cody said. "Jon Moxley has been on New Japan, Chris Jericho has been on New Japan. It already exists, the working relationship. The NWA [owner] Billy [Corgan] and Tony Khan are in contact, Thunder Rosa's the prime example of that. ... I loved seeing Tanahashi on TV last week. He's somebody I really wanted to get in the ring with one time as far as singles and never got the opportunity ? and who knows? That might be something that can happen in the future. But our doors are open, our bridges are down."
AEW has their fair share of pre-established stars on their roster, but they've also given a national platform to dozens of independent wrestling stand-outs like Orange Cassidy, Private Party, and Darby Allin. While many indie stars are rebranded once they make it to a global stage, the TNT Champion says altering their personalities would be "insulting" to the independent scene.
"If we took someone who was playing in these VFWs, bingo halls, PAL centers, even some of the larger-scale independents [and changed their character] ... It would be doing a disservice to the fandom they've already built," Cody said.