Spoiler: AJ Styles References AEW During Verbal Clash with Cody Rhodes on 6/14 WWE SmackDown

The heated rivalry between Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles took an interesting turn on the go-home edition of SmackDown for their upcoming PLE, WWE Clash at the Castle, set to take place tomorrow at the same venue, OVO Hydro.

The American Nightmare and The Phenomenal One met one last time before squaring off in a brutal ‘I Quit Match’ at WWE Clash at the Castle and got engaged in a heated verbal exchange.

During that altercation, AJ Styles labelled Cody Rhodes as a “quitter”, taking the WWE Universe down memory land. He outrightly mentioned Cody quitting promotions in the past, such as WWE, TNA, and ROH, and also subtly mentioned AEW, the same company Cody and his friends started with Tony Khan back in 2019.

While it is rare that WWE actually name-drops AEW on its television programming, it has mentioned them in the past and vice versa. The segment ended with tensions that were evident as both Styles and Rhodes gear up for their physical encounter at the Undisputed WWE Championship.

What are your thoughts on AJ Styles referencing AEW during a verbal altercation with Cody Rhodes on SmackDown in Scotland? Sound off in the comments!