Below are some top WWE & AEW news stories of the day, featuring Cody Rhodes, Cope, and Shinsuke Nakamura.
• On the post-Elimination Chamber episode of SmackDown, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes delivered a promo addressing John Cena’s betrayal.
While internal run sheets also indicated a planned backstage segment for Cody with R-Truth, this interaction was ultimately cut, according to Fightful Select.
While the reason wasn’t definitively stated, backstage speculation suggests the segment was removed to maintain the intensity and impact of Rhodes’ preceding promo.
This decision was made despite the previous week’s well-received backstage interaction between Rhodes and Truth.
• In the main event of AEW Revolution 2025, Wheeler Yuta attacked Cope when the referee was down. Jay White came out to make the save, but accidentally hit Cope.
Cope had Jon Moxley beat after multiple spears, but Christian Cage pulled the referee out. Cage then cashed-in his World Title match contract to make it a Triple Threat Match. Moxley locked-in the Bulldog Choke on Cage and Cage passed out.
According to Sean Ross Sapp on the Fightful Select Q&A, fans can expect to see Cope vs. Jay White next.
On the other hand, Moxley’s next challenger for the AEW World Title is Swerve Strickland, who defeated Ricochet to become the #1 contender.
• In the main event of SmackDown this past Friday, LA Knight defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the United States Championship, thus becoming a 2-time US Champion.
After this title change, rumors began that Nakamura is leaving WWE.
However, that’s not the case. According to Fightful Select, Nakamura will remain with the company for the foreseeable future.
