REVEALED: Why Cody Rhodes Was Referenced On AEW Dynamite By Darby Allin

Although he is gone from the promotion, Cody Rhodes was referenced on the February 14 edition of AEW Dynamite as Darby Allin stated he wouldn't have been hired by All Elite Wrestling if it wasn't for Rhodes. This came during a segment with The Young Bucks as Allin railed against Matthew and Nicholas Jackson's "little California crew" before accepting their challenge for Sting's retirement match at Revolution. 

Allin referencing Rhodes received some criticism online following the segment, notably from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer. Darby has explained to Digital Spy why he referred to Rhodes on Dynamite.

"That's easy because he's the reason I'm in AEW. You think back to my debut, I wrestled him at Fyter Fest and we went a 20-minute Broadway draw. For him to take a chance on me that early... I was relatively super unknown still, I was never really the guy on the independent scene. He did that. You've got to give respect where respect is due. I feel very strongly on paying homage to how I got here because I never thought I was going to get here. I begged people for jobs, I wasn't part of the little 'California crew.' I had to sit by and watch all these press conferences and have all these people that had no business being on national television get on national television. Meanwhile I knew exactly what I was capable of doing if I was given the opportunity. Fast forward all these years later and now look at me," Allin stated.

Allin also doesn't think referencing Rhodes was a mistake, adding: "My biggest problem is when people try to ignore the history of things as if something never happened. I'm like, we're not stupid, come on."

Following the 20-minute time-limit draw, Rhodes was Darby's main rival during the early years of AEW. This led to a storyline of Allin being unable to defeat Rhodes until he beat him for the TNT Championship at Full Gear 2020.