AEW explains the actions of Cody Rhodes.
At TripleMania XXVII, Cody participated in a post-match "puto" chant while celebrating with Psycho Clown & Cain Velasquez following their trios victory. "Puto" carries a homophobic connotation, but is regularly used by Psycho Clown following his matches. You can view a clip of Cody alongside Clown & Cain at the 58-second mark of Road to AEW All Out Episode 4.
AEW promotes itself as an all-inclusive promotion, and while he's an active wrestler, Cody is also the co-Executive Vice President of the company. OutSports reached out for comment on Cody participating in the chant and was given the following statement by an AEW spokesperson:
“Cody joined his teammates at AAA TripleMania for what he understood to be their post-match tradition in Mexico and was unaware of any negative connotations. Certainly the last thing Cody would want to do is to hurt or offend anyone, anywhere.”
Pentagon Jr. also used the slur at AEW All Out during his ladder match against The Young Bucks.
Pentagon's use of the word was not addressed in the statement. AAA did not respond to Outsports' request for comment.
