Cody Rhodes both broke a lot of fans’ hearts and made a lot of their nights when he appeared at WrestleMania 38. Despite him thinking it was time for him to leave AEW, there were a lot of potential matches that Cody left on the table when he signed with WWE.
This is a list of wrestlers that Cody surprisingly never had a singles match with during his 3-year tenure in AEW. Though these are just wrestlers within the AEW roster, we should remember that the “forbidden door” means that Cody could’ve had dozens of other dream opponents if he stuck around. For the purpose of this list, though, we’ll just be focusing on those signed to AEW.
10 Jon Moxley
Moxley and Cody come from polar opposite walks of life. Their personalities and wrestling styles stand in stark contrast with others. These aspects, combined with the fact that they were two of AEW’s biggest names, would’ve made for a really intriguing feud.
This match seemingly would’ve made for a great PPV main event in 2020, if only Cody hadn’t shot himself in the foot by blocking himself from challenging for the world title.
9 Hangman Page
Despite being a part of the Elite during his time in NJPW, Cody pretty quickly isolated himself from his friends in terms of storylines and matches. One key kayfabe interaction between Adam and Cody happened on an episode of BTE, where Cody warned Adam about turning heel, saying he’d “been down that path.”
This juxtaposition would’ve made a cool story. It would be very ironic if Cody failed to follow his own advice to Hangman and turned heel against him. A heelish Cody could have been a big hit in AEW, had he chosen to go down that path once again.
8 Miro
Though he needed some time to find his footing, Miro established himself as one of the most dominant monster heels in AEW through his TNT title reign. A feud between Miro and Cody, for the TNT title or not, could’ve helped Cody become more of the babyface he was in 2019.
Plus, since Miro is Bulgarian and very proud of it, Cody could’ve recycled some of his patriotic promo material. Maybe it would’ve been better received against Miro than it was against Anthony Ogogo.
7 Bryan Danielson
Since coming to AEW, Danielson has reestablished himself as perhaps the best technical wrestler in the world. He’s had incredible match after incredible match with no sign of slowing down.
Danielson very well could’ve given Cody his best match in AEW. Plus, since Cody is so assured that he’s the best pro wrestler in the world, Bryan Danielson would be the perfect man to go up against and test that theory.
6 Keith Lee
Keith Lee has become a favorite of the AEW faithful since establishing himself as the company’s resident gentle giant. He came into the company just a bit too late to face Cody Rhodes, so that’ll have to continue to be a “what-if” for the company.
A highlight for this feud would have undoubtedly been the promos. Both Keith and Cody are very eloquent and well-spoken, something that’s pretty uncommon for pro wrestling. They would’ve had the most polite promo battle ever.
5 Adam Cole
Adam Cole and Cody had very similar backgrounds when they came to AEW; both are former members of Bullet Club and former WWE Superstars. Adam Cole, though, is much closer to who he was when he was in Bullet Club than Cody is. This match-up would be an interesting blast from the past for Cody, who tried so hard to distance himself from his heelish history in order to become a babyface in AEW.
4 Christian Cage
Christian Cage is one of AEW’s veteran signings. He brings a lot of necessary experience and wisdom to the company’s young roster. However, Christian has spent most of his time in AEW supporting Jurassic Express and hasn’t really had much time to shine on his own.
Christian and Cody are both workhorses who’ve had experience wrestling in several different promotions. A match between them would most likely be a clinic and would give aspiring wrestlers some quality tape to study.
3 Rey Fenix
Though Cody and Dustin Rhodes have faced the Lucha Bros in a tag team match, and Cody has faced Penta in a singles match, the two baby brothers never got the chance to fight one on one.
Rey Fenix is a generational talent, and perhaps one of the best luchadors wrestling today. The Mexaking would be an especially great challenge for Cody, who has a very American style of pro wrestling.
2 Kenny Omega
Cody’s feud with Kenny Omega is probably the best feud he had between his WWE and AEW tenures. It brought out an especially evil side of The American Nightmare that made for one of the most enticing characters in NJPW at the time.
AEW had the chance to run this feud back, but with Cody as the babyface and Kenny as the heel. It would’ve been extremely interesting to see and likely would’ve resulted in a MOTY contender for the promotion.
1 CM Punk
If Cody was going to definitively turn heel as many fans wanted him to, a feud with CM Punk would’ve been the perfect way to do it. In recent interviews with WWE, Cody has said that he feels as though he set the table for stars like CM Punk to come and enjoy. Whether there’s any resentment or jealousy behind these statements isn’t clear, but those feelings could easily be built up into a great feud.
Cody feeling jealous that despite all his hard work, the fans still favor a man who left pro wrestling for seven years over him would make for a really memorable, invigorating feud. More likely than not, it would’ve reinstated Cody as one of the top names in AEW.