The Shaquille O’Neal & Jade Cargill vs. Cody Rhodes & Red Velvet match took place on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite. Originally, Rhodes was supposed to team up with his wife, Brandi Rhodes, in this match, but she was replaced by Red Velvet due to Brandi being pregnant.
The match featured Jade and Red working the majority of it with AEW saving spots for Shaq. Shaq and Cody did start things off with the NBA Legend getting in some chops and even performed a back body drop.
There was a spot where Cody knocked Shaq off the apron and this allowed Austin Gunn to him Shaq in the back with a chair, but Shaq did not sell it. He took Austin and his brother out as a result. At one point, Shaq hit a powerbomb only for Cody to follow up with a powerslam. There were two tables set up on the floor with Cody taking out Shaq over the top rope sending them both crashing through it. Jade hit her finisher to Velvet for the win. After the match, Shaq sold it as if he was knocked out.
Shaq in AEW
Originally, it looked like the match would take place at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view on March 7th. However, it was revealed that the reason Shaq was wrestling on Dynamite instead of the PPV is due to the NBA holding the All-Star Game on the same night as the Revolution PPV and he is needed to cover the NBA game.
AEW has a crossover with the NBA since All Elite Wrestling airs their weekly television show, Dynamite, on TNT while the network also airs NBA games.
Shaq first made an appearance on Dynamite back on the December 9th, 2020 episode to do a sit-down interview with Brandi. To show the drawing power of the NBA legend, the show did 995,000 viewers. It was a strong segment of the show as it did over 1.2 million viewers. The quarter featuring Shaq averaged 1,063,000 viewers and 618,000 viewers in 18-49.
Cargill later appeared and issued the challenge for this match. Shaq has stated in recent years that he wanted to wrestle Cody and now he achieved that goal. With Paul Wight, formerly known as The Big Show, now in AEW, perhaps that is the next match for the NBA Champion.
