Fans have noticed a recurring trend with the new Brodie Lee character on AEW; he seems an awful lot like Vince McMahon. But, is he? Cody Rhodes sheds some light to the truth behind the inspiration for the character.
AEW star and executive Cody Rhodes appeared on Busted Open Radio recently and noted that he's aware of the comparisons between the Brodie Lee character and his former boss in WWE, Vince McMahon. When asked directly if the character was a parody of Vince, he shared his thoughts on the gimmick and McMahon as a person.
Cody refused to say a bad word about Vince when he said, "If you do hear me say it [Vince’s name] in interviews? In general I always speak very, very highly of him." He gave props to McMahon both because he was a WWE guy to start and then because he came through their feeder system. "They were the house that built me,” he noted.
When talk shifted to a conversation about Brodie Lee, Rhodes acknowledged the talk about the new character specifically, similarities between Lee and McMahon. That said, he suggested the Lee character is not a parody. He explained:
“When it comes to the parallels between Brodie’s style of leadership? There are a lot of unique parallels but I don’t think it’s particularly a spoof on Vince McMahon. We’ll see how develops in the next few weeks, I think Brodie just has a very…’power’ boss, very animal kingdom, kind of social Darwinism type approach to the Dark Order. And I think that falls in line with perhaps some of Vince’s quirks. But it is not an outright spoof on the legendary Mr. McMahon…not outright.”
** Thanks to SEScoops.com for the quotes.
Fans Aren't Really Digging It
Cody can say all he wants that the character is not a spoof or parody of Vince but fans seem to know better. And, for the most part, outside of a couple of laughs, fans aren't finding the idea very creative.
Often criticized for worrying too much about what WWE is doing, AEW has taken some heat for focusing on their competition. And, if this Lee character is all about Vince, it seems to be a waste of time and potential for what is supposed to be one of the biggest heel character on the roster.