Brodie Lee vs Cody Rhodes AEW Squash Match Was Based on Popular Match

Cody Rhodes was the inaugural TNT Champion and he put his title on the line against Brodie Lee on the August 22nd episode of AEW Dynamite.

It was a bona fide squash match as Brodie Lee decimated Cody Rhodes in a matter of minutes and won the TNT Championship.

Cody Rhodes recently spoke on the Talk is Jericho Podcast, where he talked about his first TNT Title match with Brodie Lee.

Rhodes revealed that the squash match was based on a popular match featuring Vader and Antonio Inoki. He elaborated that no other wrestler quite fit the profile as Brodie Lee did.

“Well, I wanted to do Vader – Inoki. I wanted to do it for a while, but no one fit the profile. I thought, no one’s done that. It would be really shocking. It would be the right call because, in wrestling, anything can happen on any given night; and we have to consistently remind them of that.

“And also, he’s near seven feet. He’s a legit super-heavyweight who’s mobile. It would make all the sense in the world if he was to catch me. I think the first thing he caught me with was a dropkick. It would make all the sense in the world that could be the thing, that could be the piece that puts me out. It’s the liver shot [and] the shot on the jaw.”

Rhodes then revealed that Brodie Lee did not believe that Rhodes would let him do a squash match, with Rhodes barely putting up a fight.

“He didn’t believe me when I told him. I told him, ‘This is the easiest match you’ll ever have.’ He didn’t believe me. I was like, ‘Yeah, I don’t want to do anything.’ A flurry of punches at the beginning and that’s it. I said, ‘I don’t want to do anything,’ and he was all worried about, ‘Well, I want to hook your leg.’ Don’t even look at my leg.

“Absolutely disrespect me. Absolutely own me, eat me alive. And then Arn added, as Arn does, he’s a great finish man, the cherry on top, the moment with Anna at the very end with Anna and Brandi choking her out. I just thought it was a great way to end the show, and honestly, it’s a weird thing to say, but only in the inside baseball. In other interviews, I wouldn’t give this answer, but in this in this space, I would absolutely say it’s my favorite match at AEW.”

Brodie Lee will forever be remembered as an amazing human being, both inside and outside the squared circle.

h/t to WrestlingInc. for the quotes.