Cody Rhodes Looks Back On 2020 AEW TNT Title Open Challenges: “There Was A Whole Preface Conversation… ‘Hey, It’s Not About Hiring Anybody'”

Rhodes reflects on his TNT Title open challenges.

While AEW was running shows out of Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a period of time when Cody Rhodes was in possession of the TNT Championship and hosted open challenges.

There were two instances when talents were signed following the TNT Title match with Rhodes, and those talents were Eddie Kingston and Ricky Saints, a.k.a. Ricky Starks.

Rhodes looked back on those open challenges during the latest episode of What Do You Wanna Talk About? and shared that before the open challenges became a regular occurrence, there was a conversation held about its purpose, and it was stated that it’s not about signing anyone.

“We’re more than able to talk about it here but the (AEW TNT Title) open challenge. It’s so funny because when we started it, there was a whole preface conversation before we even called you (Ricky Saints) or the others, where, ‘Hey, it’s not about hiring anybody. Because right now, upstart company,’ I don’t know what this budget is. COVID just happened. It’s not about hiring anybody. It’s just about the opportunity and the freshness. Here’s something you never see elsewhere. Bringing people in for doing promos in their backyard or in your case, a high-rise vignette that you had paid for… I didn’t buzz you for the purposes of this. I thought you would be great for the open challenge and you were.”

Fast forward to present day, both Rhodes and Saints are signed to WWE. Rhodes is gearing up to challenge John Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam.

Next up on the docket for Saints is that he’ll be challenging Ethan Page for the NXT North American Title at Great American Bash.

If the quote in this article is used, please credit What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.