Eric Bischoff Would Rather See Cody Rhodes Return To WWE Over AEW
On the latest episode of the 83 Weeks Podcast, Eric Bischoff spoke about Cody Rhodes and some of the latest rumors surrounding his next move in the pro wrestling business.
Despite announcing on his social media and confirming the news a dozen times, many are still holding out hope that Rhodes would in-fact come back to AEW instead of heading to WWE, given reports that talks have fizzled out between him and the company.
An AEW EVP added even more confusion to the situation, reportedly suggesting that Cody will indeed be heading to WWE and has already signed his deal. Bischoff revealed what he'd like to see Cody Rhodes do and why he believes Cody going back to AEW would be a bizarre move.
"I would like to see Cody do whatever makes Cody happiest and Brandi and whatever is best for Cody's family," Bischoff said. "I don't want to pretend I know Cody really well on a real personal basis, obviously I've known Cody since he was a little kid, I knew his dad really well and Dustin a little bit. The little bit that I have been in communication with Cody and seeing him and hearing some of the things that he says and does, I think Cody reminds me very much of Dusty.
"Dusty was a hard guy to keep satisfied. He had so much drive and vision for himself and appetite to do something more, that's a hard appetite to satisfy for a creative person. You need a really good outlet where it's in WWE or, this is the first I've heard he might be going back to AEW, I find that to be bizarre, but whatever.
"Maybe it is real, whatever makes him the happiest because at the end of it all, there was a time where I got really caught up in the moment of it all and all I thought about was growing WCW, over taking WWF, making the next big financial goal for WCW. More than anything I was driven by proving a point, I wasn't driven by personal financial reward.
"The truth is I didn't give a f*** about the money, I took it and I wanted it but it wasn't what drove me. What drove me was proving a point and no matter how many times I reached to proving my point, it satisfied me for about 30 seconds and then I was finding another goal. I think Cody is that way too. I just hope he settles in."
This past Monday on RAW, WWE added more fuel to the speculation when Damien Priest gave up his finishing move "The Reckoning", a version of the Cross Rhodes, in favor of the Razor's Edge. It's also being rumored that when Cody does make his first WWE appearance, his first match would be at WrestleMania 38 against Seth Rollins.
Eric Bischoff continued to talk about Rhodes' pending decision and why he believes WWE is the best spot for him.
"I would rather see him in WWE," Bischoff said. "It's so f*cking crowded in AEW, there's so much going on there. That's not a criticism, it's an exciting thing for the people in AEW in many respects but if you're a top talent, it's a very very crowded environment now. It's hard so far, I hope I'm proven wrong, I hope that in this case I'm going to be proven wrong when I say AEW needs to find itself creatively because right now it's just throwing so much exciting stuff against the wall and then before it even has a chance to stick or not, they're onto the next thing.
"Thus far, not a criticism, AEW has seemed to plato, they're in that 950,000 to 1.1, 1.2 million level of audience. I've said this from day one, until AEW establishes a formula that allows them to grow their existing audience in a significant way, it's hard for me to get really excited. I'm excited for the people that work there, I'm excited for friends of mine that are making a good living there, I'm excited for anybody that is able to continue their careers because this is such a tough business to survive in. If you're not working for WWE or AEW, you're living day to day, I don't care who you are and that's tough."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.