Saturday night, Cody took a not-so-subtle shot at Triple H. Before his excellent match-up against Dustin Rhodes, the Executive Vice President of AEW entered the stage by sitting on a throne that had Triple H’s signature symbol behind him.
As he got to the ring, his wife Brandi handed him a sledgehammer, and then Cody destroyed the throne with the very weapon that Triple H made famous in wrestling. However, the former WWE star spoke to the media after Double or Nothing and stated that while his entrance was symbolic of ‘The Celebral Assassin’, it wasn’t a shot at the multi-time WWE champion (translation courtesy of wrestletalk):
“Okay, so, I had a literal dream about this type of entrance. I loved when Triple H came out at WrestleMania 30 and he was kind of like Shao Kahn and it was really cool. The throne kind of symbolized his reign, and, man, I want to play ball. I know we don’t say ‘competition’ but it stands for itself. I also want people to know this role, this Executive Vice President role, which I love and I’m excited about, I want to be a wrestler first. And that’s great, we were able to do that tonight. Tony Khan sat in Gorilla and timed the show. That takes years how to learn. Gerald Brisco, he was like the only guy who could do it for a long time. Tony did it tonight on his first try.
“So they don’t always need us there in those executive roles. We were able to go out there and be wrestlers. And that, more than anything… not so much a shot at Triple H, more a shot at I’m not ready to dive into that role and lean into it. I want to be a wrestler first and foremost. I’m not done. I know that people think Kenny (Omega) is the best, and I know that people think Chris (Jericho) is the best, and now Jon Moxley is the best — I’m always going to be wondering ‘what can I do? What’s the step?”
While the Executive Vice President turns down the notion that he was taking a shot at his former employer, AEW hasn’t been shy with taking jabs at the WWE during their ‘Being the Elite’ show. WWE also took a shot at AEW, most notably Triple H, who called the new promotion a “pissant company” during the Hall of Fame ceremony.