10 Biggest Missed AEW Opportunities

2. Cody Rhodes' AEW World Title Conundrum

Cody Rhodes AEW World Champion
AEW

Missed opportunity or self-inflicted error?

Now, your writer isn't necessarily saying that Cody Rhodes should have been AEW World Champion during his tenure with the promotion, but putting a stop on Cody ever being able to challenge for that prize was utterly stupid.

Of course, the American Nightmare did get a shot at the promotion's top prize at Full Gear 2019. Upon coming up short in challenging Chris Jericho for the AEW World Title - thanks to shenanigans from MJF - the stipulation was that Cody could never again challenge for that title, regardless of who held it.

While Cody's time as the inaugural TNT Champion still stands as a highlight of AEW's run so far, the company absolutely hamstrung themselves by making it impossible for one of its top stars - arguably the top star in the eyes of some fans - to ever truly reach the mountain top.

One way around all of this, mind, would have been for the on-screen Rhodes character to use his EVP position to later grant himself an underhand shot at the AEW World Title as part of a heel turn, but alas, Cody had no such urge to become villainous during his time with the company, and now the Grandson of a Plumber is obviously no longer with All Elite Wrestling.

By doing what they did with Cody Rhodes, AEW effectively took one of their most valuable chess pieces off the table where it pertains to the main event scene.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.