Cody Rhodes: AJ Styles ‘changed the way we do pro wrestling’
Cody Rhodes believes AJ Styles’ impact on the industry was so big that it changed the way professional wrestling is done in WWE.
It was announced this week that, after having retired at the Royal Rumble, Styles will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 42 weekend. A special tribute for Styles was held on Raw in Atlanta, and Rhodes was there to help celebrate Styles’ career.
Rhodes discussed the moment on Mostly Sports with Brandon Walker, saying Styles was genuinely surprised when The Undertaker revealed that Styles’ will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Rhodes believes Styles was already a Hall of Fame-caliber wrestler when he joined WWE. Everything after that just further cemented Styles’ legacy.
“He changed the way we do pro wrestling,” Rhodes said about Styles. “And he also showed people what you can do — I felt like when he came back in Orlando for the Royal Rumble [2016], he could have retired around that period of time, and he had an entire two or three runs. And pound-for-pound, if we’re talking about the measuring contest and these things like that, pound-for-pound, that guy might be the strongest guy in wrestling. I mean, genuinely a super athlete.”
In 2024, Rhodes and Styles worked a program against each other that included matches at Backlash and Clash at the Castle. They had never faced each other one-on-one prior to that Backlash meeting. Their careers took a similar path with both being former members of Bullet Club, but Rhodes and Styles weren’t around in NJPW at the same time.
Rhodes noted that Styles’ retirement has him thinking about what kind of impact rising WWE star Je’Von Evans could leave on the business.
“Which is why I’ve been thinking about Je’Von [Evans] a lot too, because he’s changing the nature of how these things go,” Rhodes said. “And he’s in there with guys who don’t wrestle like him. Will we adjust? Will he adjust? How’s it going to go? But I’m very happy for AJ. He was genuinely surprised. I love what we’re doing with The Undertaker [telling people they’re going into the Hall of Fame].
Rhodes, Evans, Trick Williams, Randy Orton, LA Knight, and Jey Uso are the six wrestlers who will be facing off in the men’s Elimination Chamber match this Saturday. The winner earns a WWE Championship shot against Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 42.
Along with going into the WWE Hall of Fame, Styles has reportedly agreed to a new WWE contract for a behind-the-scenes role.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.