Over The Top Wrestling have come out in defense of Cody Rhodes, stating that the star made a generous offer to them in 2020.
In April 2020, Ireland’s premier wrestling promotion, Over The Top (OTT), faced peril when they were given notice on the premises they used as a training school for their pupils by the building’s landlord.
At the time, the COVID-19 pandemic had ravaged the British wrestling scene and put paid to any promotions holding events. OTT, ICW, Progress Wrestling and even NXT UK had to cease their shows with those most effected being the names who were not attached to a multi-billion dollar corporation.
Unable to hold events in and around Ireland to keep them afloat and thus make money, OTT were unable to pay the full amount of rent for the building they used for their academy and were given notice by a landlord who refused to accept anything but the full amount. At the time, OTT promoter Joey Cabray wrote on his Twitter:
“Yesterday I had to close down our wrestling school based in Dublin, our landlord evicted us. Our training ceased on March 11th due to COVID 19, we reached out to try come to a resolution and offered to pay over 50% of the rent during these downtimes, even though our school can’t generate any income, but ultimately he decided to evict us instead. Our school is important to the young people who train there, we receive zero funding. On April 15th at 23:40 I received an email stating that I had until April 17th to remove our equipment or it would be put into storage of his choosing and I would be billed. Yesterday some friends and I risked our health during a pandemic to remove equipment and have it stored. People like Alan Holmes need to be remembered when this is over, landlords like this need to be held accountable.”
While the wrestling world came out in defence of OTT, trying to raise the money needed to keep the company in their home, it turns out AEW Superstar Cody rode to their rescue without having to be asked.
Taking to Twitter on January 6, 2021, Over The Top Wrestling revealed that Cody offered to pay the full rental amount on the building while defending the star following a tweet about how he once went well over his allocated time on one of their shows:
“When we got evicted by out landlord, @CodyRhodes offered to cover the rent during COVID, class act.”
When we got evicted by our landlord, @CodyRhodes offered to cover the rent during covid, class act 👌🏻
— OTT WRESTLING (@OTT_wrestling) January 6, 2021
Cody Rhodes’ offer becomes even more heartfelt when you realise that the talent only appeared for the promotion once, at their Being The Elite Event on December 9, 2017, when he defeated Flip Gordon and Rey Fenix in a Triple Threat Match.
Currently on AEW television, Cody has found himself aligned with Darby Allin and Sting in a war against Team Taz.
Over the Top Wrestling are still unable to hold shows at time of writing, but have survived the pandemic thanks to their on-demand service which contains their stellar and illustrious history.