Anthony Ogogo talks about the now-infamous weigh-in segment with Cody Rhodes, what went wrong, and how he felt throughout all of it.
Anthony Ogogo only had one major pay-per-view match in AEW. That match was against Cody Rhodes at AEW Double or Nothing 2021. In the build-up to that match, Cody and Anthony participated in a weigh-in segment that has quickly become known for how poorly it was executed. In fact, the segment was featured on Cody and Brandi Rhodes’ reality show, Rhodes to the Top.
Now, Anthony is speaking out about the segment, telling Chris Van Vliet that he believes the whole segment was “fucking dogshit.”
“Fucking dogshit mate, fucking dogshit! So Cody said to me that we were going to do a weigh-in. I’m like ‘Cool, so what’s going to happen?’ Cody is brilliant, he is brilliant at what he does and he has got a great mind for it, he is a really good coach, great promo coach. QT is a great wrestling coach, any move he can teach you how to do it, how to get out of it, the reversals. QT is the fucking man,” Anthony said. “However, [Cody] was like ‘We are going to do a weigh-in.’ I’m like ‘Cool, who is getting knocked out? What are we going to do.’ [Cody responds] ‘It’s a weigh-in, we are not going to touch.’ I’m like oh, I have watched enough wrestling to know that that’s a bit drab, a bit of shit. [Cody says] ‘Nah it’s gonna be cool.’ It’s my third week on TV, I am going to turn up, work hard and do what I am told. Mate, I am in it and I am thinking this is crap.
“You got Big Show there sweating his tits off and getting really hot,” Anthony continues. “So I said to him [Big Show], I’m just being a heel and I thought that he hated me for ages. I said to him ‘Can’t you count you dumb yank?’ Then after the segment has happened, no one was happy. I was just doing my job, there was nothing that I could do. I get my phone and my friend texted me, he said ‘I can’t believe you called Big Show a cunt.’ I went [makes confused face] did I? When I go out there and the red light goes on I am in the zone and what I do is real. That is my favorite word and I say it all the time, but even I wouldn’t have said that. I do get lost in the moment, because it becomes real to me. If I have a problem with someone, I will call them every name under the sun before knocking them out, so like possibly I did. So I watched it back and I said ‘You can’t count,’ when I said 'count,' it looks like I said [cunt], but I didn’t. So I’m like agh, I saw him next week but he didn’t speak to me, he was busy not because of that. Mate the whole thing was disastrous, but I feel like I’m the victim. It was my first kind of entry, and I am in this really weird segment that wasn’t my idea.”
Speaking about what he would have rather have done, Anthony would have preferred more shenanigans, saying that he wanted to knock out Dustin Rhodes and perhaps as I give back, Aaron solo could have gotten beaten up as well.
Anthony even proclaimed that he really enjoys the way that the Blackpool Combat Club goes about their issues in AEW.
“I would have rather knocked out Goldust, knocked out Dustin. We get out the ring, we bicker, maybe Aaron Solow gets beaten up and me and QT get away Scott free. At least then something happens. But I have this weird thing where I am wearing Union Jack pants, I get up on the turnbuckle and get a yay/boo thing, which is so childish. I like the Bryan Danielson and William Regals that are so in your face and smash, Jon Moxley [as well]. They get stuck in, that's what I like about wrestling, I like blurring the lines between real and not real. I don’t like standing in my pants going ‘Boo! Yay! Boo!’ So I was embarrassed. I had never stood on the turnbuckle before with no shoes on, and those metal struts are very hard. So my poor little feet are getting dug into by these metal struts. I wanted the ground to swallow me up, but you got to do your job.”
Overall, the program did not go the way that anyone would have intended. Cody Rhodes has stated on numerous occasions that he would have preferred to give Anthony his win back in England but unfortunately, this was in the middle of the pandemic and travel was limited. Now, Cody Rhodes says he prefers not to talk about much of the Anthony Ogogo program, including a divisive promo that he cut. Learn more here.
Thanks to Chris Van Vliet for sending the above quotes. You can check out the full interview at this link.
