#3. Kevin Owens may have helped Cody Rhodes find the spark to start AEW
If it hadn’t been for Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes may have never befriended The Young Bucks and decided to launch AEW. Owens and Cody worked together in WWE for some time but never did anything remarkable together.
According to WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page, Kevin Owens was the man who introduced Cody to The Young Bucks after the latter was released from the company.
“From what I understand, it was because of Kevin, Kevin Owens. He had called up The Bucks, who he was good friends with, and said ‘Cody’s a solid cat’. You know, you guys might want to pull him in to your group. Of course, we know what happened there. That year, Cody made like seven figures.”
Cody had never wrestled for any other company than WWE before, and Kevin Owens helped him make friends outside the company to get started.
“I’m a big organizer and planner. So I had been in Kevin Owens’ ear, like, ‘Hey, what does the world look like? I’ve saved a chunk of my money and I bought a home and stuff, but I want to make sure I can keep it. What does it look like out there?’ And Kevin was the one who said, ‘I’ll introduce you to The Young Bucks. They’re the masters of having marketed themselves outside of the company.’ Me and Brandi were totally fearless in that moment. It was crazy.”
If it hadn’t been for KO, Cody may have never made it so big outside WWE. Cody will surely be looking to give back to his friend if Kevin Owens decides to leave WWE and join AEW.
Edited by Aashran Mahajan