Brandi Rhodes deactivated her Twitter account on August 6 without warning or explanation. AEW just announced its paid membership platform for AEW Heels, which led to heavy criticism from fans.
Speaking to Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Brandi discussed her decision to leave Twitter.
"I just think that right now there are other things that need my attention a lot more," she said. "I’m focusing on “Heels,” which Friday we had our first members based event. It was extremely successful. It’s nice to come together in a community of women that really appreciated it and enjoyed it. We had a really great time on Friday night. It was nice to put my energy into that. My energy is also going into the 'Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament'...It has been a really nice weekend to put all my time and energy into what I want to be focusing on right now."
The AEW Women's Tag Team Tournament began on August 3 and while fans were excited at the prospect of the Deadly Draw, the announcement that the tournament would be on YouTube left a sour taste in the mouths of many.
When asked why the tournament was on YouTube, Brandi responded, "With YouTube, it’s its own show. That means we are trusted enough to carry our own show and don't have to be compared to men. We were also not restricted on time. So it’s really the dream scenario. Better than finding out when we are live and something went long, you may only have four minutes to put it out there. That’s really hard, especially when you are trying to introduce new women and put that kind of pressure on them. Being it’s our own show without the restraints and to be able to tell these stories how we want to is a really great situation."
Brandi went on to say that she's happy with the early success of the tournament and it's possible they continue to do it in future years.
When asked about getting more women's wrestling on Dynamite, Brandi said, "It’s an interesting question because I don’t feel it really applies to me considering it’s not something week-to-week I discuss or plan. I took this tournament on as a side project. Of course, in doing the tournament I know what the criticisms have been. I know what they are and thought this would be really great for that, especially those who are die-hard women’s wrestling fans. As far as the week-to-week goes, unfortunately that’s a burden that lies elsewhere. Thankfully, it’s not one I have to navigate so frequently."
Brandi has previously said that she does not book the women's division.
Brandi is currently paired with Allie in the Deadly Draw tournament. The duo will face Big Swole and Nicole Savoy in the semifinals of the tournament.
