Cody Rhodes On His Steel Cage Dive, Creating A Lasting Memory

Talking with Sports Illustrated, Cody Rhodes went into great detail about his show-closing steel cage moonsault from last week’s Dynamite. The moment was immediately compared to countless moments provided by his father and other stars in the same city decades ago. That’s by design.

My strength is plugging into the wrestling I grew up on, from the late ’80s to the early ’90s and even farther back. That style was a little bit more disciplined, a little bit more deliberate, and I compliment those guys by doing that.

Cody knows that he often evokes wrestling’s past in his matches, but he doesn’t see that as living in the past. “All the older wrestlers will tell you, ‘What’s old is new.’ They’ve never been more right. All these elements of magic are available to use from some of the greats, and I try to pick as much as I can from some of the best ever.”

WHAT.A.MOONSAULT!@CodyRhodes puts it all on the line for a match against @The_MJF at #AEWRevolution! pic.twitter.com/r73idpBuOL

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) February 20, 2020

Cody also isn’t extremely comfortable on top of the cage. In fact, he admitted that it terrified him. “The cage has to be lowered, that was my rule. So I ended up with the highest cage I could possibly get, and that cost me. I’m terrified of heights. That’s why my eyes are closed.”

Despite the protests of Tony Khan and several others backstage, Cody’s dive provided the lasting memory that he wanted. “We’ll never be back in year one or year two of AEW, and I want to remember every second of it and every face. It’s the encore at a concert, and I’ll stay out there until they kick me out.”

With the help of the moonsault, Cody slew Wardlow, and now nothing stands in his way. Come this Saturday at AEW Revolution, Cody will face MJF. He’s ready for the encounter. “Max talks about how I held him down, and that genuinely hurts. Now he’s in the big spotlight, in the second main event of a show in a sold-out arena, and we’ll see what he can do.”