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Cody Rhodes was very thankful to the Lyon crowd at WWE Backlash 2024 for helping him break records with AJ Styles.
Rhodes defended his Undisputed WWE Championship for the first time on television last Saturday in France against Styles. The two superstars put on a clinic in front of a hot Lyon crowd, but it was The American Nightmare who prevailed in the end.
In his post-show press conference, Rhodes thanked the fans in France for all the support and for making Backlash the largest gate for an arena event in WWE history. It broke the record held by Money in the Bank 2023 in London, England.
"I will forever be in debt to France. This was the first place I got to come, first PLE (as WWE champ). This was the biggest arena gate in company history. When all our friends in the room and everyone who's a journalist, my name's getting to be attached to that. AJ Styles' name is attached to that," Rhodes said. [From 18:33 to 19:00]
Check out the video below:
Cody Rhodes got the win after executing a top rope Cody Cutter before hitting the Cross Rhodes for the pin. The crowd erupted as the Undisputed WWE Champion's hand was raised to end the show.
Cody Rhodes named his top three rivals
In the same press conference, a reporter mentioned that Cody Rhodes' father, Dusty Rhodes, had a career-long rivalry with Ric Flair. Rhodes was then asked who might be the "Ric Flair" of his career.
The American Nightmare explained that his father considered Harley Race, "Superstar" Bill Graham, and Ric Flair as his greatest rivals. Cody then mentioned that he doesn't have any career-long rivals for now, but he did mention three names who he might consider down the road.
"Perhaps it is my newly developed friend who is getting better right now and we cannot wait for him to come back. Perhaps it is Seth Rollins. Perhaps it's Roman Reigns. Perhaps it is AJ styles. This is not the same type of rivalry," Rhodes said. [From 23:00 to 23:17]
Rhodes doesn't know who will be the next challenger for his Undisputed WWE Championship. But he did hint at wanting to face Randy Orton and LA Knight down the line.
