Cody Rhodes has been watching "Game of Thrones."
Despite not running their first official event, AEW is the talk of the wrestling world and viewed as a direct competitor to WWE. AEW and WWE -- as well ROH, MLW, IMPACT and NJPW -- are all vying for their share of the marketplace in the wrestling landscape. And while the other companies are rich with history, AEW is already making headlines and is backed by a billion-dollar family.
This isn't the first time a company has tried to knock Vince McMahon off his throne. Back in the '80s, Jim Crockett Promotions was a direct competitor with WWE. JCP was booked by Dusty Rhodes and seemed poised to keep up with WWE, but the company failed to gain traction nationally. Eventually, JCP was sold to Ted Turner and became WCW. Under new leadership, WCW went head-to-head with WWE and managed to overtake the Worldwide Leader for nearly two years. But like many others, WWE eventually put WCW out of business.
Speaking to the media following their AEW Double or Nothing Ticket Announcement Party, Cody discussed the similarities between AEW and JCP/WCW.
"It sounds super romantic if you think about 'Dusty Rhodes competed with Vince McMahon, he lost, and here is his youngest son who is gonna try to cut Vince's head off.' It sounds super Game of Thrones," said Cody. "In the back of my mind, when it's just me, I think about it a lot. But I have (The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega) who have different visions. You can't turn the clock back on old wrestling. WCW was what it was and it friggin' awesome. What AEW is gonna be is a different animal."
Nick Jackson added, "We'll have elements of it though. We'll use elements of old-school wrestling and stuff that's modern day. A mix of that would be perfect"
Cody recently discussed wanting to deliver a "wrestling buffet" to the audience, much like they did at All In.
You can view the entire media scrum with Cody and Nick in the video above. And if you missed anything from the AEW Las Vegas Party, check out Fightful's full recap here.