SUMMARY
- Cody Rhodes made history by finishing his story at WrestleMania 40.
- AJ Styles is set to challenge him for the Undisputed WWE Championship soon.
Cody Rhodes won the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40, and the company officially entered a new era under the regime of Triple H. After finally finishing his story by defeating Roman Reigns, Cody is now set to defend his title for the first time at the Backlash premium live event against AJ Styles.
The Phenomenal One booked his spot against Rhodes by defeating LA Knight in a number-one contendership match and thus earned this opportunity. With all the hype this rivalry has gotten in the last few weeks, the fans are pretty excited to watch these two pro wrestling legends go one-on-one against each other.
But before that, the two were part of a contract signing on SmackDown’s April 26 episode, where Styles talked about how both of them had to do a lot of hard work to reach this stage in the Triple H-led promotion. The veteran said, “We’ve been down the same roads & we had to prove ourselves outside of WWE.” (Via: X)
In addition to this, AJ also mentioned the importance Dusty Rhodes’ holds in his professional career and that he made him the guy he is now. Their interaction didn’t just take their feud to a whole new level; it also revealed that AJ Styles is way more similar to The American Nightmare than WWE fans even realize.
AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes followed a similar path before making it big in WWE
Fans who aren’t aware of the history these SmackDown stars share have been wondering what their history actually is. In this regard, it must be noted that AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes followed a similar path before making it big in WWE. While AJ was already a legend when he joined the Triple H-led promotion, the case for Cody was a different one, as he got successful in his second stint.
The American Nightmare was previously signed with the Stamford-based promotion and enjoyed a decent amount of success with the company. Rhodes won the Tag Team Championship and also the Intercontinental Champion during that stint. But he wasn’t satisfied with the plans the organization’s creative team had for him, and that’s why he left the company to establish himself as a top star in the independent circuit.
After leaving WWE, he made a number of appearances on Impact Wrestling and also had a stint with Ring of Honor. But it was after he joined NJPW that his pro wrestling career took a turn, as he became a superstar by competing against some of the best in-ring performers in the industry. Making his debut for the promotion, The American Nightmare joined “Bullet Club.”
This move revolutionized his career, and he then co-founded All Elite Wrestling. It was a historic move by him, but after a few years in the company, he eventually left it to make a return to the Stamford-based promotion. But the path he followed to make himself relevant enough to return to WWE as a megastar was pretty similar to what AJ had achieved before he joined the biggest wrestling promotion in the world.
On the other hand, The Phenomenal One started competing professionally back in 1998, and he was a legend even before he joined the Triple H-led promotion. Just a few years after starting his career, AJ joined ROH in 2002 and stayed there until 2006. After this, he competed at Impact Wrestling until 2014, and then made a return to the independent circuit.
“We’ve been down the same roads & we had to prove ourselves outside of WWE.” – AJ Styles to Cody Rhodes.
The parallels are insane. pic.twitter.com/nLjPoKR1Q9
— Pro Wrestling Finesse (@ProWFinesse) April 27, 2024
In addition to this, he started working with New Japan Pro Wrestling and joined “Bullet Club,” which was one of the best associations he had in his entire career. In addition to all these similarities, AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes are two of the only four professional wrestlers in history to win both the NWA Championship and WWE Championship.
As both Cody and Styles have competed in Impact, ROH, and NJPW and have also been a part of the same faction at different times, it’s evident that they share a massive amount of history with each other. Such similar journeys showcase that The Phenomenal One is way more similar to The American Nightmare than fans realize.
Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles are set to fight each other for the first time in WWE
After proving themselves all around the world, both AJ and Cody joined the WWE. Styles made his debut at Royal Rumble 2016, and Rhodes made a return at 2022’s WrestleMania to start a brand new chapter. Even though their arrival in the promotion had a difference of 6+ years, it’s now been over two years since they’ve been in the company at the same time, but they haven’t fought each other yet.
After not being involved in a one-on-one storyline for a long time, Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles are set to fight each other for the first time in the Triple H-led promotion. As The American Nightmare is the Undisputed Champion now, the stakes for the match are way higher than they could have been at a prior phase.
With Cody looking to cement himself at the top after finishing his story at WrestleMania XL, he would be motivated to come out victorious. While for Styles, this match might be the last opportunity to start a new reign with the prestigious title. As both of them would be looking to come out as the champion, it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch them fight.
With Rhodes still in the initial phase of his run as the Undisputed Champion, he is the favorite to win the match at Backlash. But looking at WWE’s past records of shocking their fans through unexpected booking decisions, there’s always a chance for surprises to occur in matches that are for championships.
As fans are looking forward to the event in France, it is going to be interesting to see if AJ and Cody’s highly anticipated feud fulfills fans’ expectations or not. Whatever the case, it’s safe to say that both of these in-ring performers would give it their all to entertain the audience and give them a memorable experience of watching two of the biggest names in the whole professional wrestling industry.