AEW held their first-ever wrestling show on Saturday night with the AEW Double or Nothing PPV and the event received widespread praise.
Not only did numerous WWE talents respond to the AEW PPV event but WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry was there as part of the media and he interviewed some AEW stars after the show for Busted Open Radio.
.@CodyRhodes talks to @TheMarkHenry during the post-#AEWDON media scrum about the symbolism used during the show and AEW actively recruiting a more diverse roster.
@WIncRebel @AEWrestling pic.twitter.com/bWuUTImneC
— WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) May 26, 2019
In one interview, Henry asked Cody Rhodes about the symbolism used during the show as well as the diversity of the talent at AEW Double or Nothing.
When it comes to the diversity, that is something that Cody Rhodes said that he really started to learn more about the importance of from his wife Brandi Rhodes.
“I’m in an interracial marriage and I’ve learned a lot that I would have never known,” Cody said. “At one time, I told Brandi, ‘I don’t have a racist bone, I don’t see color’ and she said, ‘Then you don’t see my experience.’ I thought, ‘You’re right, I can’t just say that.'”
While there has been a clear line of racism running through professional wrestling for decades, especially with its origins in the Deep South, Cody feels there is a chance to really open eyes with AEW Wrestling.
However, he emphasized to Mark Henry that AEW is not there to preach or to use diversity as a “PR element” for the company. They are going to do it through action.
“The old territory system of just one. A lot of folks may not remember that, but that’s out. The best wrestlers are gonna field the game and that’s a very diverse profile,” Rhodes said. “I’m really proud of it. We’re gonna promote them as wrestlers… I’m really proud of that because it’s about the wrestling.”