During a conversation with Peter Rosenberg on Cheap Heat, Cody Rhodes spoke openly about WWE’s production rules. The All Elite Wrestling star would refer to them as “nonsense.”

“The way Kevin Dunn shoots WWE, not so much the booking of it, it’s set the ball up for us. We wanted to be an alternative,” Cody said. “When you’re counter programmed on your night, you are competing. You’re no longer just an alternative. But what we’re doing is completely different. The only thing you’ll recognize is the ring. Everything else we’re doing is different wrestling.”

He continued, “That’s why it’s fun to poke fun at it, not in a mean spirited way. All of these rules that have been in place for 20 years, they’re not wrestling rules. They’re WWE rules. ‘It’s a contract signing, there has to be a fight.’ ‘The person can’t just look at the monitor, they have to stand to the side because that’s how Kevin likes to shoot it. It’s nonsense. It worked for them until it stopped working for them. We’re happy to do wrestling the way we want to do it.””

AEW hosted a contract signing on a recent episode of their TNT show, Dynamite, between Chris Jericho and Cody. This segment purposely teased falling into WWE’s formula before veering away from what fans might have expected. It ended with Jericho’s Inner Circle assaulting Dustin Rhodes in the parking lot, drawing Cody’s attention away from the AEW Champion.

Cody is set to challenge for Jericho’s AEW World Championship on November 9th at AEW’s next pay-per-view, Full Gear.