AEW News: Cody Rhodes compares wrestling fan base with massive movie franchise

Cody Rhodes loves pop culture, whether it's comic books, movies, Star Trek and even Star Wars. He even had a Q&A on Twitter about just that topic. In an interview with TV Insider, he brought it up when discussing the fan base for AEW saying it's similar to Star Wars because of the passion involved.

That’s a wrap, thanks folks. Here’s my top list of my favorite film/tv content. I have never disliked any of them, but this is my top to bottom. Enjoy the new movie! (not counting Mando)1 ESB2 ROTS3 TLJ4 ANH5 FA6 ROTJ7 Clone Wars8 AOTC9 Solo10 Rebels11 PM12 Rogue One

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) December 15, 2019

Cody spoke of AEW's impressive success that they sold over a 100,000 tickets in their first year and they were told they wouldn't even sell 10,000. According to him, it's because of the passionate wrestling fan base. Moreover, he also said that AEW is constantly trying to improve week after week. He explained,

"We are about to sell our 100,000th ticket [AEW has since reached this milestone as of December 16]. That’s great when you add all that money up and all that generates. The idea of an upstart wrestling company, even with such heavy backing could get you 100,000 tickets when originally Dave Meltzer said we couldn’t sell 10,000.

"I know that’s not the only reason for AEW, but it’s special. I’m excited for that day. Taking criticism isn’t really criticism. The fan base for wrestling isn’t like the fan base for Game of Thrones or Star Wars. They remind me of Star Wars in that they are super-passionate, usually split between an old-school psychology and a modern-day meta approach to the art and the presentation. The real problem is when there is no criticism. That’s a problem."

Cody Rhodes' comments about wrestling fans being passionate is very much in line with the reasons why AEW is succeeding. He's right in that regard, though some fans may take issue with his ranking of Star Wars movies and shows.