Rhodes to the Top, the reality show centered around the public and personal lives of AEW’s Cody & Brandi Rhodes, officially premiered on TNT on Wednesday night following this week’s AEW Dynamite. The show begins with a montage of what fans can expect from this first season, then jumps the May 12 episode of Dynamite where Cody cut his somewhat controversial patriotic promo ahead of his Double or Nothing match with Anthony Ogogo. Many fans view that promo as the turning point where fans started to sour on “The American Nightmare” as a babyface, and it’s heavily hinted throughout the episode that will be addressed this season.ย
Three minutes into the episode clips from Rhodes’ first match with Malakai Black are shown. “This segment is the worst thing I’ve done in AEW,” Rhodes says as the camera cuts to him on the ground in pain during the Black match. Tony Khan can then be heard shouting, “what are they doing?” before cutting to footage of fans booing the match. Rhodes then says, “I thought they would never ever consider booing me in the town I was born in.” It’s possible to clips and soundbites were all stitched together via editing, but it’s made to look like they’re all connected.ย
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While Rhodes is cutting his promo, the reactions of various wrestlers watching backstage are shown. Brandi then admits it managed to bring her to tears.ย
“…so I think that should let you know the promo was something to behold,” she says.
The final montage of the episode further teases what will be featured this season. At one point Rhodes is talking about how he’s struggling to juggle his responsibilities as an executive vice president with being a wrestler, husband and a new father. A fan is then shown flipping Rhodes the bird as more boos can be heard.ย
Rhodes was once again booed in his rematch with Black at AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam last week. However, Rhodes has repeatedly stated in interviews he has no intention of turning heel again, once claiming in a media conference call that there’s not “a heel bone in my body.”
“I’m of the belief that if you pay your money you can cheer, boo, etc. To go from a warm reception to an adversarial reception… I’ll retire before I become a heel. I’m not going to make decisions that are bad for our youth to see. That’s the challenge, how do I maintain where I’m at when the crowd wants to get a different flavour,” Rhodes said during a recent AMA for Bleacher Report (h/t Sportskeeda).ย
What did you think of the Rhodes to the Top premiere? Let us know in the comments below!ย
