All Elite Wrestling’s Cody Rhodes has spoken out about his best friend MJF. He addressed his role as a mentor to his often brash protege, stating that he sees MJF as a talent he wants to help cultivate.
In an interview with Wrestlezone, Cody reflected on how he has been a “bad guy” on numerous occasions, having turned on tag team partners himself in the past. It’s something he is well aware of when fans speculate that, one day, MJF will turn on him.
“I’m not oblivious to the fact that MJF is an ass,” he said. “I’m aware. I’ve done signings with him too and I’ve asked never to do signings with him again because he is fully committed to you hating him. However—he was my handpicked project before All In.”
He continued, “Whether it’s because he’s in your face asking questions, whether it’s because he’s literally growing—his body’s growing, knowing that he’s putting work in in the gym—his matches. He’s able to mix the modern style with a new style, creating his own style, or it’s just the X factor, whatever it was. I sold him to Matt and Nick for All In, and then after that, I never had to sell him again.”
Project MJF
When it comes to their friendship, Cody wants to take responsibility for MJF as a talent, referring to his friend as a “project.”
“He’s entertaining, and I feel like he’s mine. I want to cultivate that,” Rhodes admitted. “My Dad had so many projects through the years, so many projects. So, this is my project. And maybe I don’t have that many, but this is one of my first projects as a leader and as a mentor.”
“I’ve never been a mentor before, or at least I didn’t know I was until now. Some of those guys—‘Jungle Boy’ Jack Perry, Kip Sabian, Max—a bunch of projects that we have that we’ve homegrown and developed. I want Max to have the best chance to succeed and win. I know he’s not friendly and I know he’s not sociable, but in the ring he can get it done. If you watch last week’s Dynamite, he will make the right decision from time to time.”
Cody faces AEW World Champion Chris Jericho for the title at AEW Full Gear on November 9th.
H/T to Wrestlezone for the transcription.
