AEW's Cody Rhodes On Reaching New Wrestling Fans For TNT's Dynamite, And Expanding The Roster

In the current era of wrestling, a startup promotion would seemingly have troubles getting its foot in the door, and getting on cable TV. However, All Elite Wrestling is making it look easy and breaking all the rules with its new TNT series, Dynamite, which begins on Wednesday, October 2.

Executive vice president and AEW wrestler Cody Rhodes spoke with the press about regaining the interest of disillusioned fans that stopped watching wrestling years ago for various reasons. Rhodes explained that introducing the cast is the most important thing, which is why AEW has various YouTube series like Being The Elite and the Road To series. Additionally, Dynamite will do the same. "There has to be a human connection," Rhodes explained during the conference call. "You have to know who these folks are.

"We got two hours of moldable clay that we call Dynamite," he later continued. Those who don't participate in watching the videos on social media will still get a full experience of being introduced to these stars and what makes them tick on the premiere episode of Dynamite.

Rhodes made mention about the feud between AEW wrestlers MJF and Brandon Cutler, who will be facing each other on the premiere of Dynamite. Originally, MJF posted an image of himself saying he doesn't play Dungeons & Dragons, mocking avid player Cutler. This, in turn, got D&Der and actor Joe Manganiello to make a post himself.

Cody explained that this moment on social media got plenty of eyes on AEW talent. Hopefully, they'll tune into the program to see what happens next. However, in an era where social media is so prevalent, companies have to utilize things like Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube in order to expand brand-awareness.

For those who have been religiously following AEW since its inception back in January, they know that the current roster is just the tip of the All Elite Wrestling iceberg. Rhodes has said in the past that we've only seen 40% of the roster. During the call, he clarified that statement, "We have a lot of roster left," Rhodes explained. "I don't know if I was on the nose with my 40%... We're probably in the 85%" filled up for Dynamite right now." There have been wrestlers that AEW has not shown at its events or PPVs that have been saved for what Rhodes calls "The Dynamite era."

All Elite Wrestling's first episode of Dynamite airs on TNT on Wednesday, October 2 at 8 PM ET.