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While stopping by the Superstar Crossover to talk WWE, hype of his title reign, and maybe get a few more eyes on Bad Blood this weekend in Atlanta, Cody Rhodes was met with a blast from the past – literally – when his former TNT Championship rival Darby Allin asked him a fairly straightforward question via a previously recorded segment: can he be the face of AEW?
Truly shocked by the development, as Rhodes almost certainly didn't expect to have a straight-up AEW-WWE crossover special on the show – even if the title probably should have tipped him off – Rhodes decided to play ball with the man he helped to sign back in the day, letting him know that yes, he absolutely can, even if there is an asterisk on his answer.
“So the answer is a guaranteed Yes, but don't let Darby fool you. He was never insecure, and he was never not confident. Darby is almost overconfident, and that's that's what we do. We talk smack. We wrestle each other,” Rhodes noted via Fightful. “This is entertainment. I don't mind it, but sometimes your overconfidence is actually arrogance, when, in his case, instead of it being arrogance, the experience that he's had now with Sting, the experience he's had seeing the different changes in the company, all of that, that is the experience that you need to lead you to, where you see the clarity, and you see the moment go, ‘Hey, I can be the guy.' Absolutely, 100% could potentially be the person.”
All in all, pretty nice stuff, right? Well, remember that asterisk? Yeah, Rhodes wasn't finished, as there's something he feels is preventing Sting's former tag team partner from becoming the John Cena of AEW.
Cody Rhodes believes the best ability is availability for a top-star
So, what could prevent Allen from becoming the new face of AEW? Well, in Rhodes' opinion, it comes down to availability, as he feels Allen may have a few too many outside interests to undertake a Cena-style schedule.
“Here's the ‘But.' That spot is available to far more people than we think. In every company, everyone thinks it's about, ‘Oh, it's the politics.' There's a degree of that in everything, sure, but it's so much more fair than you think,” Rhodes noted.
“If you look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, I want to be in John Cena's spot,' look at John Cena's schedule for the day; if you can do it, then perhaps you're on the path to getting that spot. If you can do it every day, then perhaps you do get the spot. If you can do it every day plus one, then it's yours. I think it's a far more fair business than people think, so 100%, but there are other people that I would say that about as well. He certainly shouldn't be remotely in doubt on whether he could do that or not, but also, the stupid climbing mountains and getting hit by busses, you can't be the face of the company if you're not relied upon. You know what I'm saying? You can't wrestle anybody in your body cast. So that's dumb, but I say that with love.”
While some fans might appreciate everything Allen brings to the table, especially when it draws headlines for skating with Tony Hawk or appearing at the Nitro Circus, Rhodes does make a pretty good point, as Tony Khan may not feel comfortable putting the big belt on Darby if he doesn't even know if he'll be around and healthy over an expansive title reign.
