Anthony Ogogo believes his loss to Cody Rhodes really derailed the beginning of his pro wrestling career.
All Elite Wrestling‘s Anthony Ogogo recently sat down with Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy. When asked about his match with Cody Rhodes at Double or Nothing 2021, Ogogo revealed it was only the third match he ever had at that point.
“I was brand new to wrestling,” Anthony Ogogo said. “I’d had less than 50 training sessions. So I went from taking my first bump on day one to having a match with Cody Rhodes on a pay-per-view in front of thousands of people after less than 50 sessions which is unbelievable and ridiculous.
“It was my third match in my life. But really my first one as I’d had a 20-second squash match and a two-minute squash on Dynamite. And then I had a match with Cody Rhodes at a pay-per-view. So for my first real match, I think it was a great platform, and I did my job.”
Cody Rhodes won at the pay-per-view but lost to Ogogo in a tag match just a few days later on a special Friday night episode of AEW Dynamite. In hindsight, Ogogo believes he should have won their singles match.
“I think I should have won that feud, I think I should have won that match, Anthony Ogogo said. “I think there’s some things in wrestling that have to happen and, this is my opinion, you’ve always got to win your first feud because you’re letting the audience know they’ve got to care about this guy. This guy is gonna be somebody.
“I think I had this big introduction and then the rug was kind of taken from under me. I think other stuff was going on in the background and that’s why Cody went on to win the match. Malakai Black came in the month after and beat Cody in under five minutes. And I was like: ‘I wish they had of done that with me’, knocked him out with a right hand, early doors.
“I’ve got a team, I’ve got QT Marshall and Aaron Solo behind me,” he continued. “We can cheat, I can knock him out, and now I’m the biggest bad guy in the company. But we went a different route, and now I’m still playing kind of catch-up from that.”
Despite the setback, Ogogo has faith in Tony Khan and recently made his return to AEW programming during All In Zero Hour.
“Tony Khan, he’s got a great creative mind,” Anthony Ogogo said. “I think we’ve had the best product since AEW became a thing. You can’t knock his decision-making and his vision.
“I’ve just got to be patient and then when the time comes, do my job to the best of my ability. I’ve always done my job, I’ve done exactly what was asked of me, and I’m just waiting on the chance to go again.”
What do you make of Anthony Ogogo’s comments? Do you think he should have won his feud with Cody Rhodes? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
