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Cody spoke to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated recently and discussed the possibility of top free agents coming to AEW. Cody is the current TNT Champion and defends the title against a new Superstar every week.
Cody has given opportunities to upcoming wrestlers like Sonny Kiss and former NWA Superstar Ricky Starks. The former WWE Superstar has never shied away from defending the Championship against veterans such as Jake Hager either.
While talking about possible challengers for his TNT open challenge, Justin Barrasso brought up the names of former WWE Superstar Zack Ryder and independent wrestlers Fred Yehi and Warhorse. Cody responded by saying that it is important for AEW to choose opponents who do not work for them and to be aware of the world around them.
“It’s important we access those opponents, the ones that do not work for AEW. We need to always be aware of the world around us. One of the charming things about what we’ve been doing is we’ve been real and we’ve been transparent. Wrestling exists outside of AEW, we are aware of that. We try to be the best wrestling, and I really think we are, but there is great wrestling outside of us, too. It’s important for us to acknowledge that.''
Cody hints at more free-agents coming to AEW
Cody added that he loves to see non-AEW Superstars showing up each week to challenge him. He further hinted that more free agents can be expected in the coming weeks to answer the TNT open challenge.
“I love seeing when people that don’t work here put in an effort to try to get some notice or acknowledgement for the TNT Championship. That’s wonderful. When we say it’s an open challenge, I think you’ll see in the next few weeks that we mean open.”
There have been a lot of rumors suggesting that Zack Ryder could be headed to AEW now that his non-compete clause with WWE is over. The main reason behind this speculation is that Cody and Ryder are great friends in real life.
Having 'The Broski' Zack Ryder join AEW would certainly be a big get for the company as Ryder is a very popular Superstar.
