Paul Wight Calls Cody Rhodes Segment ‘A Disaster’

Before becoming an ESPY-award-winning WWE Superstar, Cody Rhodes was an Executive Vice President for AEW who wanted to leave the world a better place for his baby daughter.

Despite Cody's noble intentions, his feud with Anthony Ogogo was not well received on camera or behind the scenes. On a recent "Casual Conversations with the Classic," Paul Wight recalled being involved in the notorious 2021 weigh-in that saw faulty scales and poor planning lead to those involved looking less-than-stellar.

"That was a frickin' disaster," Wight said. "I remember coming back, and I went, 'Yo, man, what the f*ck was that?'" According to Wight, the answer was, "Cody didn't want it to look like a WWE production." Wight responded, "Well, he succeeded because it was frickin' rotten."

Wight feels the unflattering segment was an opportunity for growth and learning. "When things get so overproduced," Wight continued, "It sets the image that no one can fail, and that's not how it works. Failure creates the best sense."

Wight says now that he's older, he understands the philosophy of Macho Man Randy Savage, someone Wight knew in the early days of his career in WCW. "'Brother, you can throw 99 pieces of crap against the wall," Wight said, imitating Savage's trademark growl, "And one will stick."

Wight says that when he was younger, he was too focused on the "crap throwing" part of Savage's advice, but now, he understands it was about the one piece of crap sticking.

Since the segment, Rhodes has departed AEW and is now in WWE, where he is the odds-on favorite for the 2023 Royal Rumble match. Anthony Ogogo has been mainly on AEW "Dark" since the loss to Rhodes, recently getting wins over local talent like Pat Monix and Nick Ruiz.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Casual Conversations With The Classic" and give a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.