Cody Rhodes was recently a guest on Busted Open Radio. During the interview, Rhodes spoke about the toxic divide between AEW & NXT fans.
Here is what Rhodes said (h/t to Wrestling INC for the quotes below):
“I think about this a lot because it’s so toxic, and when I say toxic, I mean social media. Social media is becoming an accepted part of our lives now. I keep reminding people about how life was like before we had Instagram and Twitter and what we used to do, it’s almost like saying remember when we didn’t have cell phones? Social media is not going away so what I’ve tried to learn from it and study from it is that there is a logic to both sides of this big, deep divided argument.
“Whether there’s a little bit of fear from long-time WWE fans or whether there is a dislike of the bold personalities because we have done some pretty bold things like the breaking of the throne or taking little fun jabs like Chris Jericho did here and there. But, on the other side of that is the defenders of AEW that are kind of overly protective and sometimes being too generous to us because obviously, we are going to slip and make mistakes too. But it’s like you said though, if you those people together with one side wearing NXT shirts and the other guys wearing AEW shirts they would get along just fine because they are wrestling fans.”
Cody continued:
“If you look at the geopolitical climate closely and you look at everything that is happening out in the world, our fanbase needs to do a better job, I think, to get along in a way and that starts at the top. I can go ahead and say that I think a lot of things get screwed up with what was done with me in WWE but if I was to be in a room with Triple H at this moment, I would shake his hand and would probably give him a hug outside of everything that has happened. I learned a lot from him. He is on the absolute opposite side of the fence in the same role that I am in AEW and has much more experience in it.
“I think it’s fun but we can’t eat our own. You have to look at the number of wrestling fans that are watching wrestling every week and Wednesday night. We wanted Wednesday night to be must-see TV. If you take the ratings from both products and you truly understand that there is less cross-over than you think, that is a lot of eyes watching wrestling on Wednesday nights. It’s not going to stop because what happens is competitive, we are counter-programmed against each other. We are trying to beat each other’s products. We are trying to have a better product, just like the wrestlers in the locker room trying to have a better wrestling match than the guy before him but that doesn’t have to be mean-spirited.
“I’ve never been meanly-spirited about wanting to climb the ladder as a wrestler, particularly as a babyface wrestler. I do it very transparency and honestly. I want to have a better outing than Moxley. I want to have a deeper connection than Kenny Omega; I make the steps to do that and they take the steps to do that. That is what pro wrestling is so we are doing that with shows too.”
Cody related wrestling fans to the fandom of other pop-culture topics like Star Wars and Game of Thrones:
“I just think, especially the holiday season, you can love what you love, the ring is still there in the middle. There are other products out there as well. It’s definitely a toxic environment, but if there’s anything positive though about the fact that it’s a toxic environment is this: the most toxic fans have been Game of Thrones and Star Wars fans and I’m in both of those fan bases and I am screaming and yelling about everything too. And at least we have such passionate fans that they are screaming and yelling about what they think we should do right, what show is better, that isn’t a problem. Maybe how they scream and yell is, but it’s good to have the passion,”
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In other news, check out our Wrestlemania 38 predictions.
On a related note, check out my predictions for NXT Takeover: Portland.