When Nick Aldis wrestled Cody Rhodes at All In in 2018, the professional wrestling industry was in a very different place.
For one thing, there was no AEW, with the company coming into existence in large part because of the Chicago-based show, and at the time, Aldis and Rhodes were feuding over the NWA World Heavyweight Title, a belt the latter ultimately left the Now Arena with at the end of the night.
Discussing the show as a key chapter in his professional wrestling story with Inside The Ropes, Aldis noted that while the match was incredible for his career, he felt somewhat betrayed by how things shook out after. Rhodes went on to become the guy in AEW, whereas his career took far more twists and turns.
“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),” Nick Aldis told Inside the Ropes. “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.”
Now, for fans out of the know, the millionaire Aldis became friends with was Billy Corgan, with whom he helped to relaunch NWA as a standalone promotion, launched Powerrr as a regular weekly show aired on Youtube, and went on to hold the Ten Pounds of Gold for three and a half years split over two different title reigns. While things ended poorly for Aldis and Corgan, with the duo having a very public falling out last year, in the end, the former got a role with WWE as a general manager and is now about to work his first-ever WrestleMania as a talent or otherwise, while Rhodes will headline both nights. A real win-win for both men indeed.
Nick Aldis reveals advice he received from Triple H on SmackDown.
Elsewhere in his conversation with Inside The Ropes, Nick Aldis discussed what it was like to enter the WWE fray and go from a wrestling tour-de-force across North America, Europe, and beyond to an authority figure not too dissimilar from Adam Pearce's path before him.
While Aldis was a tad unsure about making such a massive swing in the middle of his wrestling prime, Paul “Triple H” Levesque felt the role was a natural pick and encouraged him that once he got on the microphone, he would see it too.
“I've always said I believe that one of the key qualities you have to have to succeed in this industry, not necessarily as a talent, but just to succeed in the industry period is self-awareness. In other words, you have to know what you do well, you have to know what you don't do well, and you have to know where you stand as far as your status and everything. So I understood what it would mean to come out with music and entrance and everything like that, particularly in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That's not a knock on Tulsa, Oklahoma, but there are certain markets where I would have gotten a stronger reaction like New York or Philly, the places that have a stronger concentration of fans that are following a lot more wrestling than just WWE,” Nick Aldis told Inside the Ropes.
“Hunter and I discussed it at length, and Paul was very honest about it. He goes, ‘Look, I know there is no ideal way to do this, we just feel like this is the best way, music and entrance doesn't make any sense.' Because most of the WWE audience were not familiar with me. They are now, but at the time, it's very out of the blue, and I'm using my real name. I think Hunter looked at it as, like, let's rip the band-aid off. There's no easy way to do this that's not going to be a little bit awkward. So let's get it out of the way. And then he just said, “I'm going to give you the mic right away, and you'll get over. Once you talk you'll be okay.” And that's how I felt about it. I was like, the sooner I can get in the ring and forget that part the better, just give me the mic.”
While Aldis was justified to be worried about his future, as becoming a general manager could cost him multiple very important years in his wrestling career, it's safe to say his spot on SmackDown has been a resounding success thus far, as the only people who are complaining about his “booking” decisions regularly are the heels he keeps getting one-up on like Logan Paul.
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