It’s hard not to notice similarities between Cody’s career and his father’s. This is especially the case now that he will be handling creative for a wrestling promotion as well. Cody spoke to ESPN recently about what he learned from his father which he’ll take with him into his new role with All Elite Wrestling.
“My dad was executive producer at WCW and was the booker for Jim Crockett Promotions,” Cody said of the Dream. “I learned so much from being his son. I’ll be honest — I don’t like when other people say it, but I can say it — I learned from the things he did right and I also learned from the things he did wrong because he had to live with them for a good portion of his career. A lot of it is on the board criticism, but I’ve seen that and I feel like I know what to stay away from and know which direction to go.”
We lost Dusty Rhodes in the summer of 2015 at the age of 69 due to kidney failure.
Cody On His Booking Philosophies
Cody reiterated some of what he said during SEScoops’ exclusive conversation with him earlier this week as well. He believes wrestlers need to be given a certain amount of creative freedom.
“One thing we are trying to do here is let guys go out there and play their music like they are going to play it,” he continued. “If I invest in a talent like, let’s say MJF [Maxwell Jacob Friedman] for example, it’s not my job to micromanage you.”
The 33-year-old is considerably younger than many of those who have been put in similar situations. Still, Cody was born into professional wrestling and is motivated to create positive change in the industry. He believes talent having creative freedom will be a key driver of change in the business.
“If we look at the heyday of WWF in the late ’80s and the type of wrestling that I love dearly, those were grown men who knew what the direction was, they got a finish, they got a time, and they went out there and delivered what they delivered. It wasn’t something that was micromanaged. Maybe slightly consulted or massaged, but they were the stars, so why micromanage them? We will not be micromanaging anybody.”
