All Elite Wrestling star Cody Rhodes has provided some into insight into the creative process leading up to his the "American Dream" promo he cut on the May 12 edition of Dynamite.
During a recent appearance on GameSpot’s Wrestle Buddies podcast, Cody revealed that the promo had been workshopped and focus group tested beforehand.
"I workshop my promos heavily for weeks on end. We have a full focus group for them, as crazy as that sounds. This is a data-based company, so I workshop everything I do. And because my promos have been held to a really high standard—people pick at them and find things in them and they put a microscope on them, which I love,” Cody said.
As you might recall, in the promo, Cody addressed his ongoing feud with rising AEW star Anthony Ogogo. He challenged Ogogo to a match at Double Or Nothing, and revealed that he would be adopting the moniker of his late father, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.
The promo was poorly received due to its excessively jingoistic content. Cody is meant to be the good guy in this program, but his implication that Anthony Ogogo is nothing more than an ungrateful foreigner did not sit well with everyone.
Cody Rhodes: AEW's American Hero
It's obvious that Cody was attempting to recapture the energy of retro wrestling feuds in which the American hero defeats an invading anti-American agitator (think Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior prevailing over Slaughter, Adnan, and Mustafa at SummerSlam '91). But modern wrestling fans don't respond to patriotism or nationalism in quite the same way as their early '90s predecessors.
To top it off, the promo was just poorly delivered. When Cody Rhodes grabbed the mic and delivered an emotional tribute to his brother Dustin following their historic match at 2019's Double or Nothing, fans hung on his every word. His short promo was believable, honest, and powerful -- the complete opposite of his Ogogo promo.
Despite the sloppy, misjudged promo, the feud between Ogogo and Rhodes has been rather enjoyable. Ogogo is an exciting prospect who is very comfortable on camera. Whether or not he's ready for marquee match remains to be seen, but if anyone can get a performance out of "The Guv'nor", its "The American Dream."