Former AEW rivals to face Cody Rhodes in WWE: “All Elite” rematches the American Nightmare could have on Raw, SmackDown & NXT

WWE/AEW

Cody Rhodes made his WWE return at WrestleMania 38 in 2022, six years on from his previous departure from the company.

This return came just months after the American Nightmare’s AEW exit, with Rhodes leaving his role as executive vice president, which he had held since 2019.

Rhodes shared the ring with many talented wrestlers in AEW, some of whom have since followed in the American Nightmare’s footsteps and joined WWE.

Like CM Punk, Rhodes has a number of potential AEW rematches available to him, which could realistically take place on Raw, SmackDown or NXT.

Here are three former AEW rivals who could face Cody Rhodes in WWE.

Ethan Page

Cody Rhodes and Ethan Page have a lot of history together, with the duo notably holding tag-team gold together in Page’s Alpha-1 Wrestling promotion from June 2017 to January 2018.

Page previously revealed that Rhodes would make himself affordable for his promotion, believing that he’s indebted to the American Nightmare forever because of this.

The duo most recently shared the ring as opponents, with Cody Rhodes defending the TNT Championship against Ethan Page on the December 31, 2021 Rampage episode.

With both stars now on WWE’s main roster, it’d be a full-circle moment to see Rhodes and Page share the ring again.

Penta

Cody Rhodes and Penta shared the ring in both singles and tag-team action in AEW, with their first meeting in the promotion seeing Cody and Dustin Rhodes prevail over the Lucha Brothers on the January 8, 2020 1 Year Anniversary edition of Dynamite.

Their only singles match in an AEW ring took place during the March 11, 2021 Dynamite: St Patrick’s Day Slam show, with Rhodes defeating “Penta El Zero Miedo”.

Penta and Rhodes haven’t yet faced off in WWE, with Penta having been part of the Raw brand since his debut in January 2025.

While Cody Rhodes is currently part of the SmackDown roster, this match could take place in the future following a roster shake-up.

Shawn Spears

Shawn Spears was a significant rival for Cody Rhodes in AEW, with the former OVW Southern Tag Team Champions facing off at All Out 2019, the second pay-per-view event in the history of the company.

It was ahead of this show that Spears delivered the infamous “chair shot heard around the world”, with Rhodes bleeding from the head following a steel chair strike at Fyter Fest.

The duo last shared the ring on the April 8, 2020 Dynamite episode, with Rhodes defeating Spears to advance in the TNT Championship tournament.

The American Nightmare paid a visit to Spears and several other AEW alumni on the June 11, 2024 NXT episode. This tease whet WWE fans’ appetites for another match between the former tag-team partners.

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• wwe
• Cody Rhodes
• AEW

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