AEW News & Rumor Roundup: Canceled plans for AJ Styles revealed; Major confrontation; John Cena takes a shot at Tony Khan

Welcome to the April 1, 2025, edition of AEW News and Rumor Roundup. In today's edition, we'll cover some trending topics like AEW's canceled plan for AJ Styles, John Cena taking a shot at Tony Khan, a major confrontation taking place, and more.

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#5 AEW wanted to hire AJ Styles

Before joining WWE in 2016, AJ Styles was closely associated with Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks in Bullet Club. He was eventually kicked out of the faction. In The Wrestling Observer, Dave Meltzer stated that All Elite Wrestling wanted to build on the group's rivalry during the early Dynamite episodes in 2019.

Tony Khan wanted to hire Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson to feud with Omega and The Bucks, but the plans were canceled as The Phenomenal One continued his journey in WWE.

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#4 John Cena took a shot at Tony Khan on RAW

John Cena and Cody Rhodes had an intense promo battle on this week's edition of RAW. The former took several cheap shots at The American Nightmare and called him a "sociopathic nepobaby" and "an errand boy who got lucky." He also indirectly took a shot at Tony Khan while embarrassing Rhodes on the mic.

"I make empires for billionaires. All you've ever done is steal money from their kids," said Cena.

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#3 Booker T confronted Swerve Strickland at a recent event

Swerve Strickland recently had an interview with VladTV. During the conversation, he commented on WWE being unjust towards black wrestlers. He also spoke about former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon using a racial slur during a 2005 backstage segment involving John Cena and Booker T.

During his Hall of Fame podcast, the 60-year-old WWE Hall of Famer revealed he confronted The New Flavor about his remarks at an event in Richmond, Virginia, which they both attended.

“I was at an event this weekend in Richmond, Virginia. Lo and behold, who was at the same event with me, actually as a part of the same party. It was literally the first person I ran into the morning of the event. Just like Swerve Strickland said, me having the energy when Vince McMahon said the N-word, rest assured I had the energy when I saw him because I approached Swerve Strickland and I had a conversation with Swerve Strickland. Let’s talk about the conversation with Swerve Strickland."

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#2 Jim Cornette believes Cody Rhodes didn't fit in AEW

Cody Rhodes was one of the stars who helped Tony Khan build his company from the ground up. He performed as a wrestler in All Elite Wrestling and also held an EVP role till he left in 2022.

Speaking on his Drive Thru podcast, Jim Cornette stated that The American Nightmare was miscast in the Jacksonville-based company. The veteran believes the WWE Champion didn't fit the Jacksonville-based promotion's on-screen program and expressed that he would've been more significant handling backstage roles.

"He didn't fit on air because it was... you know, for all the reasons we've talked about. So, he wasn't drawing them a ton of money, but I think you can say his influence behind the scenes would've been more important," Cornette said.

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#1 Update on The Young Bucks' prolonged absence from AEW

The Young Bucks haven't been on All Elite TV since they lost the AEW World Tag Team Championships to Private Party in October last year. However, they did return to NJPW recently.

Fightful Select provided an update on the duo's AEW hiatus. The report mentioned that they are still the EVPs in the promotion despite not being at shows or even backstage for a while now, and if they visit, they leave before the show starts. It is still unknown when they might return to the ring.