Cody Rhodes Reveals His 'American Dream' Promo Was Focus-Group-Tested

Cody Rhodes revealed during a long promo on Dynamite a couple of weeks ago that he will take up his father Dusty Rhodes' 'American Dream' moniker at Double Or Nothing.

Rhodes mentioned segregation, immigration and other subjects during the promo and it ended up receiving a mixed reaction. Some fans loved it but others thought it was rambling and unnecessary.

The American Nightmare has since detailed how he put the promo together during a chat with Gamestop's Wrestle Buddies and he revealed all of his promos are workshopped and focus-group-tested.

"This is probably gonna sound not cool, because a lot of wrestlers -- especially wrestlers from my dad's era -- will lie to you and say, 'Oh, I just came up with that promo right there on the spot,' which is bullsh*t. But whatever. I workshop my promos heavily for weeks on end. We have a full focus group for them, as crazy as that sounds," Cody stated.

"This is a data-based company, so I workshop everything I do. And because my promos have been held to a really high standard -- people pick at them and find things in them and they put a microscope on them, which I love." 

Cody also noted he couldn't decide how to finish the promo, but he eventually chose to use the 'American Dream' line. 

"When I was just thinking about what the story really is, Anthony [Ogogo] is living the American dream for real. All the wrestlers, like Bruno Sammartino, who I referenced in my interview, who have come over, have lived the American dream here. [With] what [that] stands for and [it being] Memorial Day weekend and fans coming back and just all that beautiful synergy and kismet, I ended up saying it once. 'He won't be wrestling the American Nightmare. He'll be wrestling the American Dream.' And when I said it, I just couldn't move past it. I thought, 'That's it. That's the ticket,'" he added.