Cody hopes to talk less and act more in the second year of AEW Dynamite.
Being one of four AEW co-executive Vice Presidents, Cody was front and center during the first year of Dynamite's run. Whether on-camera or off-camera, Cody was making headlines with his words. In year two, he hopes to make less headlines with what he says and promises.
“I wanted to really promote the brand, I wanted to pound the pavement, but in speaking I kind of confined our product, I tried to give an identity to a product (when the) identity is evolving, its identity is growing," Cody told Asbury Park Press. "AEW is going to have a different identity in year one than it has in year two, and we want that identity and that flavor profile to improve. But to say it’s one thing would be incorrect because wrestling is something that there’s no one specific way to do it right. There’s many different ways to do it right. So I spoke too much as an executive in my efforts to promote the brand and a lot of this kind of click-bait journalism (followed) in areas where what I said was taken out of context and might have rubbed people the wrong way or might have created more tension between an NXT fan and an AEW fan. A little less talk from me, a little more action, is one of my goals (going forward)."
A big talking point in the first year of Dynamite has been the relationship between AEW and NJPW, and the hushed "forbidden door."
On the latest episode of Dynamite, Hiroshi Tanahashi made a video appearance to congratulate Chris Jericho on 30 years in wrestling. Tanahashi's appearance led to more chatter about NJPW and AEW working together.
“I think you’ll never see a full-scale, like, joint-promoted show (between AEW and another promotion)," Cody said. "We have too much pride in our individual brand. But in terms of the relationships, we’re never closing the doors and we’re never going to pull up the bridges. I laughed when I heard people talking about a working relationship with New Japan because clearly it already exists — Jon Moxley has been on New Japan, Chris Jericho has been on New Japan. It already exists, the working relationship. The NWA (owner) Billy (Corgan) and Tony Khan are in contact, Thunder Rosa’s the prime example of that. ... I loved seeing Tanahashi on TV last week. He’s somebody I really wanted to get in the ring with one time as far as singles and never got the opportunity — and who knows? That might be something that can happen in the future. But our doors are open, our bridges are down.”
It is unknown if AEW and NJPW will work together in any official capacity moving forward, but many AEW wrestlers are allowed to work NJPW events in Japan.
Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Dynamite beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
