"Son of a b***h" - Top AEW star spills beans on his relationship with Cody Rhodes

Modified Mar 26, 2025 14:37 GMT

Cody Rhodes in his final AEW Dynamite match (Photo credits: allelitewrestling.com)

AEW formed in 2019 to much fanfare as an alternative to WWE. Cody Rhodes made his name in WWE and on the indies but was integral in launching the Tony Khan-led promotion. He shockingly left the company and returned to WWE a few years ago. But Rhodes has remained close with many former co-workers, including a top star who recently revealed an interesting story from their friendship.

The American Nightmare was pushed to the top upon returning to WWE and has been world champion since dethroning Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL. The same month, Swerve Strickland became the AEW World Champion by defeating Samoa Joe. The reign ended 126 days later, but the former Hit Row member has remained a top talent.

Rhodes and Strickland's success was reflected in the annual PWI 500 rankings for 2024, which listed The American Nightmare at #1 and The Realest at #2.

Strickland recently spoke with VladTV and revealed how he sent Rhodes a text message after the PWI 500 list was released last September. The former NXT champion recalled the SmackDown star putting him over by declaring he should've been number one.

"I’m still friends with [Cody], the night that actually came out I texted him like, 'I missed you by one, you son of a b***h, and he texted me back like, 'Honestly dude (...) you should have been #1.' That’s the competition we have between us, it’s like a good one. Like, 'I wanted to beat you so bad!,'" Swerve Strickland said.

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Strickland and Rhodes have faced off in just one singles bout. DEFY1 Legacy on January 13, 2017, saw the Undisputed WWE Champion defeat The Realest in 20 minutes to retain his GFW NEXGEN Championship.

Updated AEW Dynamite lineup for tonight

Tonight's AEW Dynamite will air live from Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, MN. Below is the updated lineup.

Swerve Strickland calls out Jon Moxley
MJF gives his answer to MVP
Tony Schiavone interviews Rated FTR
Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Mark Davis
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe
Brody King vs. Kyle Fletcher
Megan Bayne and Penelope Ford vs. Toni Storm and Thunder Rosa
Kenny Omega vs. Blake Christian

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AEW will return to the Panther Arena on the campus of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee for Saturday's Collision. The episode will air live in the normal two-hour timeslot.

About the author

Marc Middleton is a writer from North Carolina, USA. He is currently in his first year at Sportskeeda as a contributor to the WWE section.

Marc began roaming the online world of wrestling in 1997, and has worked in the IWC since 1998-1999. He spent most of the past 15 years working for the biggest independently owned sports entertainment websites.

Marc enjoys free timing in his free time. He lives with the most beautiful girl in the world, and they plan to never have kids, but they are blessed enough to have the best dog in the world who just had his 15th birthday.

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Edited by Pratik Singh