Cody Rhodes has stuck to his word when it comes to staying away from the AEW World Championship. The “American Nightmare” challenged for the title back at the 2019 Full Gear event against then-champion Chris Jericho, adding in his own stipulation that if he lost he’d never challenge for it again. MJF would up costing him that match against “Le Champion,” so Rhodes then turned his full attention to the TNT Championship (which he won twice). But the question of whether or not Rhodes would ever go back on that stipulation has always lingered, especially once fans started speculating that he might turn heel.ย
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Rhodes once again stated he wouldn’t do the latter during an interview with Brian Jones of PopCulture, then said the only way he’d challenge for the AEW title is if Tony Khan demanded it.ย
“This will disappoint so many and maybe it won’t, maybe this will excite, but two things I can guarantee you,” Rhodes said. “And I’m not saying this to wave one hand while you’re not looking at the other. I’m telling this from the most honest standpoint, I am not going to turn heel on this company. And I would retire before I did that. Now I’m the head of the community outreach group. I have a little girl now. I’m not going to be doing heel stuff on TV.”
“I am not turning heel and I’m not going back on my word to challenge for the title,” he added. “That stuff was real. It hurts. It is a large regret that that ever happened, but it did happen and I can live with it. And I got to do that dance with Chris Jericho, and I will not go back on that stipulation, me personally. If Tony wanted to change things he could. And again, you can never say never in wrestling, but I do think there’s this idea that evil corporate need would turn the stipulation around and challenge for the world title, that I can say never will happen.”
AEW Dynamite will celebrate its two-year anniversary with this week’s episode in Philadelphia. You can see the card for the show below:ย
- TNT Championship: Sammy Guevara vs. Bobby Fish
- Casino Ladder Match: Jon Moxley vs. Pac vs. Andrade El Idolo vs. Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Matt Hardy vs. TBA
- The Elite (Kenny Omega, Adam Cole & The Young Bucks) vs. Bryan Danielson, Christian Cage & Jurassic Express
- Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb
