10 AEW Wrestlers Who Teamed With WWE Champions

7. Cody Rhodes

Curry Man Bryan Danielson
WWE

Drew McIntyre's been forced to tell his fired-revived-rehired story ad nauseam since establishing himself as a WWE top guy in 2020, but it speaks the determination of both 'The Scottish Warrior' and AEW executive vice president Cody Rhodes that both kicked out of a rotten early-2010s main roster run to make things work a decade later.

Floating between partners and half-baked push at the time, the two were only marginally less aimless during their run as Tag Team Champions before spinning back off into WWE's rudderless midcard of the day.

While Cody eventually briefly found his way back to something meaningful in 2013, it wasn't to last, and McIntyre was less fortunate that. 3-Man Band were an opening match comedy act regardless of how many Reddit threads book a Jinder/Drew "dream" match, and it was unsurprising that the two crossed paths on numerous occasions during the mid-decade indie boom.

Both were destined to sit atop the industry eventually, but it wasn't happening here.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett