Kyle Fletcher on Goal of Surpassing Cody Rhodes’ TNT Title Defenses Record, Upcoming Mark Briscoe Match at AEW Full Gear 2025, Don Callis Having a “Soft Heart” for Him, Being “Most Hated Man in AEW”, Jon Moxley & Orange Cassidy Being AEW Locker Room Leaders

TMZ Sports held a recent interview with current AEW TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher. One of the topics discussed included Fletcher’s thoughts about his goal of wanting to surpass Cody Rhodes’ record for most TNT title defenses in AEW history.

“Yeah, I mean… Proclaiming that I’m the greatest TNT champion of all time and surpassing Cody as well as Miro and Darby in reigns, it’s kind of a… it’s a weird sense of, like, imposter syndrome a little bit to me. Like, it’s like Cody Rhodes currently is the number one star in probably all of wrestling right now, like the top dog, and to be like, ‘oh, I had… a better championship reign than Cody Rhodes. Look at me.’ Yeah. I don’t know. Like it’s a, it’s a bit of a weird feeling, but it’s also very reassuring to me. Like, Oh, I mean, look at me. I’m doing better than, better than Cody Rhodes, better than Miro, better than Darby. It’s a weird thing. It’s a weird feeling, but also it reassures me that I’m kind of, I’m on the right path. I’m doing the right thing moving in the right direction.”

Fletcher also gave his thoughts about his upcoming TNT Championship No Disqualification match against Mark Briscoe at AEW’s Full Gear 2025 event and the stipulation of Briscoe having to join the Don Callis Family if he loses.

“I think it remains to be seen. So when Don spoke to me about it, his thought process was like, he didn’t want like- there needed to be some kind of stipulation for us. Like we’re not just giving away title shots and after I’ve already beaten him at the last pay-per-view at WrestleDream. It’s like he had his chance, he lost. Okay, if you want another shot, you got to give us something. So his thought process was, didn’t want him to retire, didn’t want him to do any of this other stuff because he is like a very good competitor, a relentless competitor in the ring. He saw that as someone, if he could get him under the family banner and win, working well amongst the rest of us, that could be a valuable asset to us. So I totally agree with that. I think it depends. Obviously, if he loses, he has to join. But will he be reluctant? Will he look forward to the opportunity? Will he change his ways? I think it is an interesting thing that will unfold either way.” 

Briscoe also gave his thoughts about how he will treat Briscoe if he does defeat him at Full Gear.

“I will give him the chance to show what kind of man he is, and after he shows his true colors, I will make my decision.”

Fletcher also gave his thoughts about his belief that Don Callis has a “soft heart” for him in the Don Callis Family.

“I’ve seen him be rough to other people. I think I have a soft spot in his heart. He always treats me pretty well. I haven’t gotten his bad side yet. So, yeah, we have a really good relationship, but it definitely, if someone doesn’t want to follow orders, there’s a little bit of, (slaps hand) in the back.”

Fletcher also gave his thoughts about him being the “most hated man in AEW.”

“Yeah, I can’t lie. It’s exactly how I’ve felt my whole life. My whole life, I have enjoyed growing up, I have an older sister and my mom. I just love, like, annoying the crap out of them to the point where they tell me to piss off or, like, whatever. So it’s just- it brings that side out of me. Like, I love that feeling of like looking at the crowd and saying something and then having people stand up and go, ‘no, shut the fuck up.’ Like, oh, I’m like, ‘give it to me, baby.’”

Fletcher also gave his thoughts about his praise of Jon Moxley and Orange Cassidy for being among the locker room leaders in AEW.

“There are definitely these like- these figures. I don’t necessarily like the term ‘locker room leader’ because it’s not like one person stands in the middle of the locker room every time and goes like, ‘clean up your trash.’ It’s not like Undertaker (in the) 90s. It just doesn’t really exist nowadays. I think there are certain people that everyone else just looks to and respects. It’s a very natural and organic thing. I think the one that is the most obvious right now is maybe like Mox. Mox is just one of those people that he lives and breathes AEW and just wants it to succeed more than anything and he’s always another one of those people that is always around and always there to offer some super cool insight,that you might not normally think of. Another one is Orange Cassidy since coming back, he’s been a great guy that people can look to and really respect and lead by example, really. So yeah, there’s, I wouldn’t say there’s a specific locker room leader, but there are a lot of people that I can look around and go like, ‘Oh, we’re in, we’re in really good hands.’”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5