Nick Aldis comments on feeling “a little bit betrayed” prior to the launch of AEW
While speaking to Kenny McIntosh for Inside The Ropes Magazine, WWE Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis reflected on his match against Cody Rhodes at the 2018 All In PPV event…
“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 (AEW). As we progressed a couple of months forward, it was clear it was a done deal.
So in that respect, I guess I felt I could have been informed of that sooner. But I just looked at it from the perspective of that piece of business meaning Cody and I at All In did nothing but good things for all of everyone involved. It wasn’t like people looked at me as if I were finished. We tore the house down and we had the match that everybody remembers, the real main event of that show. That built my credibility, and 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 the pipeline to a billionaire. I only had a millionaire, but whatever, it’s all just part of the tapestry of your career.” (quote courtesy of ITRWrestling.com)