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With one day remaining until All Elite Wrestling debuts AEW Dynamite on TNT, Cody Rhodes revealed he has his eye on a potential "personal project." When asked during a media call ahead of the cable television debut about his experiences teaming with Cain Velasquez in the AAA promotion in Mexico, Rhodes gushed over the former UFC heavyweight champion.

"He's definitely somebody I am keeping an eye on," Rhodes said. "Cain was one of those athletes ... not even an athlete thing, it's almost a strange natural ability to pick up our industry. Man, he picked it up so, so quick and he wasn't doing mixed martial arts Cain Velasquez. He was trying to do true lucha, and he had worked with Psycho Clown … I was blown away by Cain Velasquez. 

"I would love to bring that tandem and that tag back to All Elite Wrestling. I'm glad to hear he likes what we're doing, I like what he's done with AAA. I continue to monitor it. That might be something you see of a personal project for me if and when Cain would like to come play ball with us. I'd be down. There's something very special. The man was a former UFC heavyweight champ. He's a nice guy, represents a whole part of the world. Just a special, special human being. I think he'd be a great fit to our family."

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According to Dave Meltzer of MMA Fighting, Velasquez has been in talks with both AEW as well as WWE where a potential showdown with Brock Lesnar could draw massive mainstream interest. Velasquez defeated Lesnar via first-round TKO in 2010 to claim the UFC heavyweight championship. The report notes that Velasquez would want to have surgery on his knee before giving a full-time commitment to pro wrestling.

More AEW news, rumors

  • AEW announced a retail merchandising partnership with Hot Topic on Monday. Customized t-shirts for a number of wrestlers will be available for purchase in stores and online starting Oct. 2, the day the promotion debuts on TNT.
  • The promotion also solidified a TV deal with Canadian network TSN. Under the terms of the deal, AEW Dynamite will air live in Canada at 8 p.m. ET every Wednesday night.
  • Chris Jericho tweeted that he will use the AEW Dynamite countdown show Tuesday night on TNT to announce his mystery opponents for the debut episode. The trio will face off with Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks in one of the most anticipated matches on the inaugural show.