Chris Jericho Says Nobody Knew Who Cody Rhodes Was Until AEW

Cody Rhodes became one of the mainstays of Monday Night RAW after returning to WWE at WrestleMania 38. He went on to have solid matches with Seth Rollins and elevated himself. Chris Jericho recently claimed that Cody Rhodes wasn’t a top star prior to AEW’s rise to prominence in the wrestling world.

The 2018 All In pay-per-view was arguably the biggest, most significant wrestling event in the previous ten years. Tony Khan, The Elite, and Cody Rhodes founded All Elite Wrestling as a result of the success of the event. When multiple-time WWE Champion Chris Jericho joined the campaign on January 8, 2019, the public took notice.

Then, on May 19, AEW and WarnerMedia collaborated to create AEW Dynamite, an episode-based television program. Chris Jericho asserted The Elite and Rhodes were not well-known in the United States prior to the creation of AEW during an interview on the most recent episode of AEW Unrestricted.

Keep in mind, no-one really knew Cody at that point. He’d been gone for years; the last time we’d seen him, he was Stardust when he left [WWE.] And as much buzz as Kenny [Omega], and Matt and Nick Jackson had, they were still mostly just regional guys. They were worldwide stars, but when it comes to national TV in the States, they didn’t have any experience with that.

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If I’m the bridge to get here, check me out, and then look at all these other guys that we have. Would the company have happened if I wasn’t there? Probably. But I don’t think it would have grown as quickly as it did, or maybe gotten off to such a huge start.

Even if Jericho thought the business would have prospered without him, he was nonetheless of the opinion that it wouldn’t have had the same kind of profound influence on the sector. Following a backstage altercation with former AEW World Champions CM Punk and Ace Steel, The Elite is temporarily suspended, and Cody Rhodes has since left the company and joined WWE. Listen to the full episode below.

Do you agree with Chris Jericho’s opinion? Sound off in the comments!