Cody Rhodes is currently the AEW EVP and a performer in the company. He is one of the pioneers in the formation of AEW. The former WWE star Enzo Amore(now NZo) recently opened up on the current landscape of the wrestling business and also discussed how the wrestling landscape changed with the inception of All Elite Wrestling(AEW) and the gradual slump of NXT.
Enzo Amore says NXT is the original alternative to the WWE
There has been a healthy competition between AEW and NXT with the so-called ‘Wednesday Night Wars’. On the most part, NXT was decimated by AEW in terms of viewership until the gold and black show moved to Tuesdays. With the fall of NXT, AEW has been doing a great job in the pro-wrestling industry.
Enzo Amore had a stint in NXT as well as on the WWE main roster. He recently joined Busted Open Radio and spoke about the alternative product of WWE. It is often said that AEW is the alternate of WWE but according to the former WWE star it was NXT.
He said: “I always felt like it would just take, in this new day and age in the social media era, it takes a garnering of certain audience. And NXT, people don’t realize that the alternative to WWE before it was these other promotions, was NXT.”
He added: “Before it was AEW, the audience that made me and Cass was the most hungry alternative audience you’ve ever seen in this business.”
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Cody Rhodes took a similar route with AEW
Amore said that AEW EVP and performer Cody Rhodes made a smart move by joining the likes of Kenny Omega and Young Bucks to form AEW.
Amore said that Cody Rhodes switched to AEW from WWE and followed the same formula of NXT to build Tony Khan’s company. The former WWE star noted how NXT had stars like Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens (Kevin Steen at the time), Neville.
While, the women’s revolution was led by Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Becky Lynch. NXT had all these top athletes under the same roof, similar to what AEW has now.
Here’s what Amore said about Cody Rhodes: “It was just a unique feel, it was an alternative route to the WWE. So when I saw this angle building from a million miles away, it was the smartest thing Cody could’ve ever done.”