Nick Aldis has admitted that he felt a little bit betrayed after the All In 2018 event.
The independent PPV promoted by The Elite has proven to be one of the most important events in the history of wrestling. The show that started off as a challenge ended up being the catalyst of AEW’s formation and has changed the landscape of professional wrestling forever.
The SmackDown General Manager was an important part of this phenomenon. He defended his NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Cody Rhodes at the Sears Centre Arena. The bout is still remembered for the intricate storytelling leading up to it and the delivery of it.
While both the stars played their role in this feud perfectly, the results were not the same for them. The event propelled the American Nightmare into his current superstardom, but Aldis had to continue battling for relevance long after it. It was only after a bitter end to his relationship with NWA in 2022 that he managed to get an opportunity with WWE.
During a recent interview with Inside The Ropes, Nick Aldis was asked how he feels about the different paths their careers took after All In. He mentioned that playing the comparison can lead you to the rabbit hole of bitterness in wrestling but also admitted his disappointment at not being made aware of what was going on behind the scenes at the time:
“I think in this business if you start playing the comparison game, you can really go down a rabbit hole of bitterness and resentment very quickly. I felt a little bit betrayed when I found out that they were all familiar, they were all aware of Tony Khan, and they’d been sort of plotting this thing.
So then as we progressed a couple of months forward, it’s sort of like, ‘oh, that’s all already happening. That’s sort of a done deal.’ Sort of in that respect I guess I felt like I could have been informed of that sooner. But I just looked at it from the perspective of like, Well, that piece of business meaning Cody and I at All In, that did nothing but good things for everyone involved. It wasn’t like people looked at me and went ‘Oh he’s finished.’
We tore the house down and we had the match that everybody remembers. We had the real main event of that show. That built my credibility. Off the back of that, we were able to launch an entire show that at that time had a strong, sustainable audience. I landed a six-figure contract off the back of that also. Cody obviously, had a pipeline to a billionaire. It is a different, I only had a millionaire, he had a billionaire but, whatever. It’s all just part of the tapestry of your career.”
I Was The Right Guy Too: Nick Aldis
Nick Aldis made it clear later in the interview that he doesn’t resent Cody Rhodes in any way. According to the former NWA star, their match gave him an opportunity to show his talent and to prove that the big fight feel can be orchestrated outside of WWE too:
“I certainly didn’t resent Cody. If anything, I was grateful to Cody because the success of that show was certainly not [dependent on me]. They weren’t going to sell those…they sold those tickets, no matter what. I always say I didn’t draw the house but I felt like I made the show what it was.
I felt like if you take Cody and I’s match out of All In I think people remember it as a sort of really amazing achievement, as a sort of, almost like a giant crowdfunding exhibit like ‘Wow. I can’t believe that these guys got together and they managed to sell 11,000 seats to an arena. That’s really cool.’
But I felt like what Cody and I’s match did was kind of show that it can be done outside of WWE. Like a moment, storytelling, emotion. the big fight feel. The delivery of the big match and the fairytale ending can happen somewhere else with the right guys. Look, Cody was the right guy, but I was the right guy too. I felt like it underlined me as ‘this guy could do it too.'”
You can check out Nick Aldis’ full interview in the video below:
If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription
