Kenny Omega Says Cody Rhodes Was The First Person To Think About AEW Hiring A Medical Team

Cody Rhodes and his wife Brandi Rhodes were among the key figures in AEW back when the wrestling company took off in 2019. Cody, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks not only worked as talents but also served as the co-Executive Vice Presidents of AEW. All four men filled multiple vital roles behind the scenes, that ranged from pitching creative ideas, collaborating with other companies, or scouting talent.

Cody Rhodes left AEW in early 2022 to rejoin WWE, but Omega and The Young Bucks remain co-EVPs and are currently the AEW Trios Champions. Omega has great respect for Cody Rhodes and the job he has done for AEW. From creating innovative storylines to bringing in top-notch talent, Rhodes has played a pivotal role in helping AEW become the success it is today.

On the Swerve City podcast, Kenny Omega discussed his role as EVP of AEW and shaped praise on Cody Rhodes for his contribution in Tony Khan’s company.

“The fourth EVP, we can’t mention his name. Just kidding, it’s Cody. He really … I will assume this is just from knowledge of being in the business all his life because he was born into the business, and he understood a lot from his father. He knew what we needed. He knew what we needed to line up and the things that I couldn’t get. I’ve got good contacts for any unsigned Japanese talent that you guys need, I can be that guy. The Bucks would be like, ‘we know great guys from So Cal or Indie guys.’ Cody is like, ‘Okay, cool, how about this guy and this guy.’ We’d have a list of talent and put them together.

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Then, Cody is like, ‘What are we going to do about medical staffing?’ Oh, right, we need that too. We should have doctors. ‘I have a contact for Doc Sampson.’ That’s probably not going to be enough, so I had a dude named Bryce (Ready). I thought, ‘Hey man, I know you’ve taken care of some of our guys, and you really love wrestling, would you be able to take a full-time opportunity to do that?’ We got trainers through that. ‘What else do we need?’ We needed producers for TV, guys that actually have experience doing wrestling production.

That was a Cody thing. ‘I can get in touch with this guy.’ The Bucks maybe knew a guy. At the beginning, just to build that small infrastructure, which we didn’t have, when you start checking names off the box, you think you’re there, but you’re not because we were so understaffed at the beginning. Even to this day, I can confidently say, we can use an extra trainer or two. The tables are always busy. We could have a couple of gophers in case we’re running low on certain things and materials. As things go, you naturally require more people to keep things running,”

Despite the praises, Kenny Omega had previously said that Cody Rhodes may not have been the right fit for AEW. However, it can’t be ruled out that Rhodes had been particularly important in helping AEW to grow and develop as an upstart company.

Cody Rhodes proved many of the pieces that Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks couldn’t get. Rhodes also provided producers for television who had experience accomplishing wrestling production, which was a crucial factor in getting AEW off the ground.

Cody Rhodes is set to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 39. The American Nightmare punched his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania by winning the Men’s Royal Rumble this past January. Rhodes and Kenny Omega might be rivals on paper now, but The Cleaner nevertheless wishes him the best for his WWE endeavors.

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