WWE veteran on if Vince McMahon would have allowed Roman Reigns' AEW reference on RAW

The feud between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes reached new heights on WWE Raw this past week when the Tribal Chief claimed that The American Nightmare couldn't get over in AEW. But would Vince McMahon have let that slide?

During their promo segment at the end of Raw, Reigns claimed that Cody ran away from his former Stardust gimmick, only to set up a promotion that he couldn't get over in, before running away from that as well.

This has caused a lot of stir online, as Cody's time in AEW has rarely been mentioned so blatantly. It prompted some to wonder how such a reference could make it onto WWE TV.

Speaking on his "Drive-Thru" podcast, wrestling veteran Jim Cornette speculated that while Triple H has a much wider appreciation for wrestling outside of WWE, Roman's reference to All Elite Wrestling probably wouldn't have happened had Vince McMahon still been in charge.

“How many times in previous eras would a line like that even been able to make WWE television? But they know now that—I think Triple H knows, I still think Vince [McMahon] probably wouldn’t go for it, Triple H knows they’ve got an overall smaller audience than they ever have, and most of the people that still follow wrestling know what the f**k’s happening.” [1:48-2:18]

Reigns and Cody are set to face off in the main event of WrestleMania 39's second night. But who will walk out of the show with the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship? Only time will tell!

WWE programming has made multiple references to AEW.

Despite Jim Cornette speculating that AEW being referenced on WWE TV wouldn't have happened if Vince McMahon was still in charge, All Elite Wrestling has been referenced a number of times since it was formed in 2019.

Seth Rollins hinted at the company during his feud with Cody Rhodes in 2022, and Sami Zayn outright said "AEW" on Raw back in 2019. But it was Triple H who had arguably the most aggressive reference toward All Elite Wrestling.

During DX's induction speech at the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, Billy Gunn joked that Vince McMahon couldn't fire him if he said anything bad on the night because he was under contract with All Elite Wrestling.

This prompted a smattering of AEW chants from the crowd before Triple H stated that Vince would buy "that p**s-ant company" just to fire Billy Gunn for a second time. In an ironic turn of events, "that p**s-ant company" went on to beat The Game's version of NXT convincingly during the "Wednesday Night Wars."

Do you like seeing banter like this between the two promotions? Let us know in the comments section down below!

Please credit "Jim Cornette's Drive-Thru" and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling when using quotes from this article.