Cody Rhodes lost his TNT Championship to Brodie Lee in devastating fashion on Saturday night’s edition of AEW Dynamite, and now it sounds like “The American Nightmare” will be off AEW programming for a while. Lee defeated Rhodes for the championship in just over three minutes, then had The Dark Order attack Arn Anderson, QT Marshall, Dustin Rhodes and event Brandi Rhodes on the entrance stage. Lee even went so far as to knock Rhodes off his stretcher while he was being carried to the back, then bashed him in the head with a bag full of the destroyed older version of the TNT title.
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According to PWInsider, Rhodes won’t return to television for a while in order to sell the injury. Mike Johnson speculated his absence might have to do with filming for the new Starz series Heels, staring Stephen Amell.
“The expectation is that Cody will be off TV for an extended period to sell the beating he took at the hands of Brodie Lee,” Johnson wrote. “The timing may have something to do with STARZ Heels series going into production in Georgia as Stephen Amell specifically asked Cody to take part in the series when Amell’s casting was announced last year.The timing certainly matches up.AEW has promised an update on Cody this Thursday. “
Rhodes departure at this time of year could result in him missing the All Out pay-per-view on Sept. 5. Since AEW launched Rhodes has been booked for each of its pay-per-views, taking on Dustin Rhodes, Shawn Spears, Chris Jericho, MJF and Lance Archer
Here’s the card for that event, as of now:
- AEW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. MJF
- AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida vs. Thunder Rosa
- AEW World Tag Team Championships: Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. TBD
- Mimosa Mayhem Match: Orange Cassidy vs. Chris Jericho
And here’s what AEW has promoted for this week’s edition of Dynamite, which will take place at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday.
- Brodie Lee’s TNT Championship Celebration
- Jon Moxley and MJF’s Contract Signing
- Tables Match: Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara
- Big Swole vs. Britt Baker, Reba and Penelope Ford
- Tag Team Gauntlet Match: The Natural Nightmares vs. The Young Bucks vs. The Best Friends vs. FTR
- Cody Rhodes status update
