Cody Rhodes could have been part of an iconic retirement match if he remained at AEW.
Sting has confirmed that his retirement is imminent, with the final outing for the Hall of Famer scheduled for Revolution 2024 in March, 3 years on from his debut match with the promotion. Speculation has already started as to who the final opponent for Sting will be, with names such as long-time ally Darby Allin and even legendary rival Ric Flair all being considered. However, had Rhodes not left AEW, he might have been involved in the upcoming match.
Speaking with Sports Illustrated, The American Nightmare stated that prior to his 2022 departure, there were talks of him being involved in the retirement match whenever it would happen to take place:
“The last match I was offered in AEW was that match,” said Rhodes. “It wasn’t confirmed or anything like that, but just the little I had to do with his debut there is a wonderful memory. I was a little Stinger. Maybe I’ll pull out a Stinger Splash in his honor. Seriously, cheers to a wonderful career.”
Sting debuted on the Winter Is Coming special episode of Dynamite back in 2020, saving Rhodes and the rest of The Nightmare family from an attack by Team Taz. Despite both being in the same promotion for over a year, Sting and Rhodes never competed in the same match as either opponents or tag partners.
Rhodes’ final match in AEW saw The American Nightmare lose to Sammy Guevara in a ladder match to unify the lineal and interim TNT Championships.
Cody Rhodes Proves To Be Popular With Merchandise Sales
Having been a part of WWE since WrestleMania 38, Rhodes has been featured very prominently since his return and has been one of the most popular acts on the roster. According to a recent report, Cody Rhodes has been dominating merchandise sales at live events and has even been outperforming one of the frequent top sellers in WWE.