Cody Rhodes Was Coy On Women’s Wrestling Before AEW

Cody Rhodes was a recent guest on AEW's Unrestricted where he spoke about the rise in women's wrestling within AEW. He admitted to not initially being the biggest fan of it. However, his opinion has changed, and he believes the pressure is on for the division now.

"I entered AEW not perhaps the biggest fan, and I am not saying I was and I wasn't. But now, there are guarantees on our show," he stressed. "You put Serena Deeb out there, you better have your working boots on, or she will outwork you. That's genuine change in wrestling, and it's great to see. I am at the school now, and we've got five girls in this camp. It's not like back then there wasn't an example to look at, but now the pressure is on, it really is."

Cody Rhodes then spoke about how certain male wrestlers are against women's wrestling rising. However, he believes people need to get on board with it. The AEW star also spoke about the positive of having more top names on a show.

"I think there's a lot of male wrestlers who behind the scenes are kind of rooting against it. And I am not saying at AEW," he pointed out. "I am saying in the general space of wrestling, and they need to hop on because it's happening, it's growing, it's building, and it's really cool to see. And, as a wrestler on the show, it's another top person. 'Hey, Jon Moxley doesn't have to wrestle every week, because Jade can go out there and wrestle. Because Thunder can wrestle, Deeb can wrestle, Britt can wrestle,' it's endless."

Cody Rhodes also discussed AEW having a female referee with Aubrey Edwards. However, he conceded that a member of the roster actually requested to not have her in his match. Adding that they have since changed their opinion.

"There was a wrestler in year one of All Elite Wrestling who privately told me, 'I don't want Aubrey in my matches,'" Cody revealed. "He was basically trying to say, 'she's not a man,' he was leaning that way. Fast forward to three years later, that individual is requesting Aubrey for the matches."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW Unrestricted, with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.