For the first time in two decades, WWE has a legitimate competitor standing across from them on the other side of the ring that is television ratings on Wednesday nights.

Behind executive vice presidents and performers Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, Matt and Nick Jackson, as well as Jacksonville Jaguars co-owner Tony Khan, AEW Dynamite on TNT has staked its claim to a significant portion of professional wrestling’s watching audience.

Shortly after the show’s debut in early October, AEW announced the company would be headed to North Texas for an episode of Dynamite with the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland set to host the show’s 11th episode on Dec. 11.

Rhodes, who spent nearly a decade performing with WWE before venturing out on his own, filled us in on what it’s like to now help run his own show while being an active competitor, as well as how Dynamite eventually landed on the Curtis Culwell Center ahead of AEW’s trip to Garland:

So, do you have any days off anymore?

Cody: “Yeah, I mean, Saturdays sometimes during the college football chunk of day. So, I’d say from like noon to 5:00 p.m. That’s my day. That’s my chance to watch my Georgia Bulldogs play or whoever’s playing. I look forward to it each week. But I really dig this job. It hasn’t yet really dawned on me this is 24/7, I mean, it should have pretty early. But Tony wanted the EVPs to be real EVPs. So, a lot of learning on the job. Really enjoy it, though.”

How’s the show-running life on top of being a performer, as opposed to the days of just being a wrestler?

Cody: “I think it’s just a matter of time management. And you really have to split yourself in that positive way where you know when you’re getting ready for your own segment, and you know when you’re getting ready for your own piece of the narrative in a two-hour show, and then you have to know when you’re touring around a third-party group, or talking to a younger talent about a pre-tape and who’s going to shoot it, or reviewing somebody’s work – you just have to know when to turn on the performer. And when you turn on the performer, that’s really fun because you can let all that stuff go for just a few minutes, and kind of be a shark out in the ocean again. Get your blood pumping about going out there and wrestling in front of thousands of people.”

We had an interview in early 2017 when you used ‘rewarding’ as a word to describe your post-WWE career. What word would you use to describe it now?

Cody: “It’s another R-word, but it’s not rewarding. Of course this is rewarding. But now, with everything that’s happened, with the importance of Dynamite and Wednesday night becoming must-see television for a wrestling fan – I think the word is responsibility. I know that’s a lot of pressure to take on one’s self, and that’s why I don’t take it on just myself. I have Matt, Nick, Kenny, and Tony to share this with. But we have a responsibility. We have the chance to be the [first] true alternative in 20 years in pro wrestling, and showcase a different side of pro wrestling, and that’s a big responsibility – one I take gladly.”

With all of the options of venues around Dallas-Fort Worth, how did you guys land in Garland?

Cody: "It’s tricky to get buildings on a Wednesday night kind of in general the way we do it because our production footprint is rather large. We have to plan load in, you have to properly have everything set up. We have a lot of high-definition equipment that was given to us by Turner, I call it the NBA equipment because they kind of gave us all the bells and whistles to make our show look just as good.

“This building just fit the mold on what we wanted, the type of crowd size we wanted for it. As much as we love and are confident in ourselves, we are still teaching people every week and every minute of the show who they are. So, this was just the perfect footprint – 7,000-something seats with our stage and our floor plan. That’s something we actively check out. It fits all the things we need for all our equipment and pyro and all the bells and whistles that make a live [television] show so different from just a live event.”

WWE runs non-television events almost every day of the week, how different is it just setting up for one show a week?

Cody: "One of the benefits of working for All Elite Wrestling – if you’re a competitor – you’re really only working one day a week. The really die-hard, committed, kind of golden circle of our company is always working, and that includes wrestlers – not just management. Their minds always going. But it’s new to wrestling that Tony’s offered this schedule.

"Some people are free to do independent [shows] on the weekends where they can keep getting their reps in. Some other people don’t need the reps – like my brother [Dustin Rhodes, formerly known as Goldust in WWE], he’s had 20 years of reps. He’s TV-ready always, as kind of proven by this last week in there with The Young Bucks and Santana and Ortiz. I think it’s the way it should be.

"I think the model of the live-event system, and I’m not trying to knock anybody, is antiquated. The last few years [I was] with WWE, those houses for live events and not TVs were pretty – they were good, they were a couple thousand – but they weren’t the same as the big TV spectacle. It just seems like you’re putting less of an emphasis on your show when you spread yourself out like that.

“So, I think everything is about Dynamite. To follow AEW, you’ve got to watch Dynamite. Dynamite’s our only show. Four pay-per-views a year. And everything that exists outside of that is shoulder content, it’s stuff you can watch if you want to. And if not, tune into Dynamite and be caught right up.”

Dustin Rhodes celebrates with The Young Bucks after a victory on AEW Dynamite in Champaign, Illinois. (Courtesy of All Elite Wrestling)

What’s it like to bring your brother back into the fold to let him spread his wrestling wings again, so to speak, and have him be a dynamic player?

Cody: "He’s special. This experience with each other – we weren’t planning on working together. After Double or Nothing he wanted to come on full time, and it’s really special to be working with my brother. He runs a class – which he set up himself – for the women’s division, and he works with a few of the men, as well. ... He just dove right in to the coach side of this. And I can say now, he’s one of the people I could not do this without. You ask how this was all possible, you’ve got to be flanked by people like Dustin Rhodes.

“I think it’s fate that we ended up working together like this. He has some real respect for me, and I have an unlimited respect for my brother, an endless amount. So, it’s almost emotional every week to see what he’s able to bring to the table, and I’m glad he can be here with us and I’m glad he’s doing so well.”

On the decision to remove himself from the AEW World Championship picture via a stipulation at the Full Gear pay-per-view...

Cody: "It was solely my decision. Tony was not a fan of it, but he understood why I wanted to do it. And I heard both sides of the argument.

"Right now, I’m in a spot with the fans that I’ve never been in before. I’ve never gotten reactions like this. I’ve never been as good as I am in the ring right now. You know, men’s wrestler prime is 35 [years old], that’s what everyone always says. I’m 34. So, I think I’m almost there. ... But also, I don’t want to face any of the criticisms or any of the asterisks that my dad [Dusty Rhodes] faced because they weren’t fair to his legacy.

"When he was with [Jim Crockett Promotions], people talk about all that, he made everybody at Crockett rich. Him and Ric Flair were the top stars. When you’re the top stars, they’re what the people wanted to see. But they all received that criticism later on, the political aspect of it. I figured I would just take a different path.

“It’s not going to stop me from wrestling. It’s not going to stop me from even main-eventing if the match calls for it. But the title doesn’t belong to me. And unless the fans really wanted me to be champion, to wouldn’t belong to me. So right now, I’m happy with that decision.”

On the level of influence in the wrestling world AEW has been able to provide in such a short amount of time...

Cody: "Well, I know I’m really proud of a lot of the campaign elements of what we said coming to fruition. The better pay for women, fair pay, on-level pay for women. The health insurance aspect of it being offered to not just employees, but several of our performers and continuing to grow upon that because I know where the industry eventually needs to head.

"And then, like you said, the fact that it sparks counter programming on Wednesday nights and it sparked a bit of attitude brought back to the other product – you got to remember, we’re friends with everybody in both locker rooms – and that, it’s just a great time for a wrestler. Knowing that you have a little bit more freedom to go out there and get over. Because right now it’s about getting over, it’s not about pleasing one man, whether that be Tony or whether that be Vince. It’s about pleasing the audience, which is what it always should have been about.

“I think, right now, it’s just fun to see that people are stepping their game up. We’re stepping our game up every week. Every week intends to be better than the last, and that’s how wrestling should be. Fans don’t want to part with their time or their money unless it’s damn good, you know?”

Since we talked about this last time, I feel the need to bring it up again, what is going on with the Dallas Cowboys?

Cody: “Oof. Oof. Fell apart on us, bud. Fell apart. I have the love for our Cowboys because of my sister Kristin [a former Cowboys cheerleader] and my older brother Dustin, but this is one of those times where I can easily just put my Cowboys sweatshirt away and not wear it at the moment. They got to figure that out, this Jason Garrett situation. It’s all got to be figured out. I don’t pretend to be an owner or a coach, but they have a lot of talent. It’s America’s Team. I think they’ll turn it around next season, but this has been kind of hard to watch them limp through the rest of this one.”

Will Garrett be back next year?

Cody: “I’m of the thought process that – I’m not anti-Jason Garrett. I think he brought them to some prominent spots, but I think maybe it’s time to try someone new in that role. The conservative approach – maybe it’s time to try someone new. And if it’s not, you need to give Jason Garrett all the resources and all the possible things he can have to win.”

With only a few months of shows under your belt, is there any future stars in AEW who just haven’t had their chance to shine yet?

Cody: “I would say everyone who you see weekly because it’s like a list, basically, a short list of people like Luchasaurus, like Kris Statlander, Shida, Riho, Nyla, people like Jungle Boy – even people like MJF. I mean, you can look at their faces and see the youth in their faces. But it’s very easy to kind of see it in their performance, there is something incredibly special and they’re going to grow up in front of you. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention who I think is probably the best wrestler that you don’t know about, and that being Rey Fenix. Rey Fenix is something very, very special and I’m glad we have him.”

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