Cody Rhodes Nothing But a ‘Toy Story’ Character?—Ethan Page on Tony Khan

It would seem that the boos recently being thrown towards Cody Rhodes via the AEW audience are getting to him quite a bit. Although crowd reactions generally aren’t supposed to affect pro wrestlers all that much, Cody is a tad surprised at the boos he’s been the recipient of.

John Cena dealt with such reactions from fans for the greater part of his WWE career. Even today, the WWE crowd reacts in much the same way, as could have been seen in his most recent run with the company labeled, “The Summer of Cena.”

The crowd reaction towards Cody in AEW was predominantly felt in his last match against Malakai Black, the crowd entirely in Black’s favor—they obviously members of “the house of Black.”

But this is pro wrestling and a reaction is what is wanted by promotions, and whether good or bad, a reaction is definitely a good thing, as good or bad, it represents heat.

It was during an interview on Busted open that Cody opened up about these recent crowd reactions, he comparing himself to even one of the most beloved Disney characters. He said:

“…Okay, I will use a real modern-day example as everyone has seen the film, Toy Story. So, Woody was having a hell of a time. He was getting played with every day. He was the best toy. But then Buzz Lightyear shows up. Woody gets thrown in the toy box. If you’re wondering how I feel, take a look at how Woody felt in the very first Toy Story, because that, to a degree, has been my role lately…”

via Busted Open /webisjericho.com (Transcription)

We know that in recent statements, Cody has said that he is reluctant to go heel. These boos may have been because AEW fans are disappointed in his wanting to do projects outside of the ring, namely his reality show. Many fans believe that even though a reality show is based around wrestling, it isn’t wrestling and that may be the source of their unhappiness with him, many are speculating.

Ethan Page on the creation of the Men of the Year and just how much Tony Khan had to do with it

Apparently, and according to Page, Khan had everything to do with it. It was as he spoke with cultaholic.com that Page told of how the Men of the Year came to be, (Page and Scorpio Sky):

“…That was all credit to Tony Khan. It was his brainchild to put me and Scorpio together and I’m happy to admit that when I heard it at first, I was just like, ‘That’s interesting, I don’t know how that’s going to work,’ and I dove right in. It’s probably my favorite thing I’ve done in my career just because of the natural chemistry we have. We’re so like-minded but different and we play off each other, we complement each other…I don’t know if you’ve watched a bunch of our matches but we’ve never done a tag move and no one’s noticed. Think about how good of a team we are that that doesn’t stick out. It’s not about the moves. I think people are really into how we present ourselves, how we package ourselves, how we market ourselves. Our characters and the presentation of it. We don’t mind being the most-hated in the room, it’s fun for us. So I think we click really well…”

via cultaholic.com

Check out the rest of the interview here.

NEXT: Gia Miller and Ace Austin Lose Home in Fire—Samoa Joe on his time in TNA—Bound For Glory Sells Out