WWE management under Paul “Triple H” Levesque has been a completely different regime than the one previously in power.
The management doesn’t even shy to sometimes name-drop or even show footage of former WWE superstars currently working for rival promotions. Recently, a top AEW star who worked in WWE was shown on an episode of SmackDown to advance a storyline and veteran had something to say on the same.
Which AEW superstar was shown on the recent episode of SmackDown?
During the August 23rd episode of SmackDown, Cody Rhodes was a guest on The Grayson Waller Effect. Waller played a video package showing all the victims of the betrayal of his Bash in Berlin opponent, Kevin Owens, who is currently Rhodes’ ally as well.
As the vignette progressed, fans noticed WWE using the clip of Owens betraying current AEW star, Chris Jericho during the infamous festival of friendship segment back in 2017. On the recent edition of Smack Talk, wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell believed that WWE, who owns the footage, was right in using the footage to advance the storyline between Rhodes and Owens and he appreciated the move done by the regime.
“That’s what I like about it, because he was in a big angle and they own, so they should use it, and I thought… it fits. And if you do it, keep doing it.”
Grayson Waller attempted to use the vignette to drive a wedge between Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens. However, his and Austin Theory’s plan did not work out, as the A-Town Down Under duo were later defeated in a tag team match by Rhodes and Owens.
However, the final moments of the show did look like Kevin Owens was about to smash Cody Rhodes with his Undisputed WWE Championship, only for Owens to hand it back to him and celebrate the win to close the show.
