Cody Rhodes On AEW Rankings: It's Not A Ladder System, ‘It's A More Flush Ranking’ Like NCAA Format

Cody Rhodes says the AEW rankings system means anyone in the top 5 can be a contender for a championship.

Earlier today, Cody tweeted out support for Darby Allin, who will challenge AEW World Champion Jon Moxley for the title on Dynamite this evening. One fan replied, asking why Allin, the fifth-ranked wrestler, is getting a title shot and what it meant for the rankings system.

Cody cleared things up, noting that AEW’s rankings put anyone ranked on the charts in contention for a title in their respective division, “not unlike” the NCAA’s format where lower-ranked teams could compete for a championship.

That the top-5 is in contention for a title shot and the best 5 wrestlers in AEW. It’s not a ladder system like a video game, it’s a more flush ranking…not unlike the NCAA.

This week’s AEW rankings saw FTR officially chart for the first time, as well as a couple of other moves in the women’s and tag team divisions.

#5 ranked in the world @DarbyAllin – he’s taken everybody at AEW(including me) to the limit, if I was a betting man…he’d be my pick! https://t.co/RYHIhg9bHY

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) August 5, 2020

Cody Rhodes first revealed plans for an AEW rankings system in an interview with WrestleZone in October. At the time, he said the company planned to introduce a ‘Top Five’ ranking system ahead of the AEW Full Gear event and explained how it would reinforce the ‘sports-centric’ feel of the brand and still feel familiar to fans.

“On the Friday before Full Gear, I think we’re going to put our first-ever ‘Top Fives’ and [that] should become a weekly thing. This isn’t just broadcast this is also social, just like with college football and the AP Poll, you get your Top 20. Sometimes a guy who is 5-0 is not ranked in the top three because the quality of wins, the softness of the schedule and it’s fun because in college football people argue over—especially when we get near the playoffs—people ‘should, should they not’ [get in].” Cody said. “PAC right now has these great wins over Hangman Page and Kenny Omega, he’s essentially Ohio State for us at this point. There’s gotta be a title shot in his future, and there is if he keeps winning and keeps going, but I believe before Full Gear we’ll have our Top Five for women, for tags and for singles and now that we have more and more every week it helps us so much from data.

“I’ve expanded—to be fair, Kevin Sullivan’s expanded the lower thirds on talent so you can see their records. We want their records to be more present because Jim Ross is talking about them, Tony Schiavone is talking about them.” Cody said. “Once we get a few more wins, a few more losses, a few more draws, whatever they may be, it really helps create that tapestry for us which is something we promised and it wasn’t just a campaign promise. Sports-centric, the guys winning the matches are the guys getting the title matches.”