Cody Rhodes On Who AEW Is Looking For, Suggests UFC Fighters Would Be Welcomed
The professional wrestling community continues learning new details about All Elite Wrestling, one of the most recent being their roster, that includes Chris Jericho, Pac/WWE's Neville, Frankie Kazarian, and many others. AEW also has two upcoming shows in Las Vegas, Nevada and Jacksonville, Florida and many people involved with the organization have said that AEW's potential television deals will legitimize the company even further.
Cody Rhodes, an in-ring performer and the Executive Vice President for All Elite Wrestling, recently spoke with TMZ Sports about the target audience for AEW and if their goal is to garner more viewers than WWE. Rhodes also explained what his intentions are with AEW's developing roster as they try to avoid retreading over the past eras.
"I think we're just trying to be an alternative and lean in to the people who supported us last year and do it all again," Rhodes said. "I think we're looking for wrestlers, and I don't knock anything in the mainstream. But that's what we want in All In, is fresh, fresh product. It's a mistake if you just try to lead with familiar faces from the days of old because we can't just keep reminding people that the attitude era was great. We already know it was really great. This era can be really good, too. So, that's my goal and that's my job, is to find the fresh guys."
Rhodes remains open minded on some subjects, like the prospect of UFC fighters making the transition to professional wrestling and AEW. Rhodes believes that somebody passionate enough about the product will overcome the typical struggles of being a pro wrestler.
"That might be a fun challenge," Rhodes admitted. "I think something like that, if they have a passion for wrestling, it really works out. But that's one of my big knocks: you can't teach passion, so, as long as somebody's passionate about it and knows it's kinda a hard gig, which those guys already bust their ass, I can imagine that could be a cool little crossover."
You can listen to the full interview in the video above.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit TMZ Sports with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.