37-year-old star almost signed with AEW; Cody Rhodes didn't respond to his messages

Former AEW star and EVP Cody Rhodes was recently accused by a 37-year-old star of not responding to his messages. The latter revealed that he was trying to sign to All Elite Wrestling before officially becoming a NJPW star.

The star in question is current Bullet Club member El Phantasmo (ELP), who has appeared in All Elite Wrestling before. ELP has appeared at all AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view events to date. The NJPW star teamed with the Young Bucks against Dudes with Attitudes (Sting, Darby Allin, and Shingo Takagi) at last year's event. ELP competed against fellow Canadian Stu Grayson earlier this year at the Forbidden Door.

Speaking in an interview with Speaking of Strong Style, ELP revealed that he came close to signing with All Elite Wrestling before NJPW:

"It's also funny, they [NJPW] originally only offered me a three month deal to do Best of Super Juniors and maybe Super Junior Tag League but that was also right as AEW was starting. I wrestled Cody Rhodes and Tony Khan was there and they offered me a deal to go to AEW. But that was before anybody knew what it was and I went from one day being an unknown indie wrestler in the UK to having multiple contract offers."

He further spoke about Cody Rhodes not answering his messages:

"At the end of the day, New Japan asked first and that's what my decision came down to. They asked first, they wanted me first. It was funny, I was texting Cody Rhodes on WhatsApp and he didn't respond. And then I was like, "Cody, like, I kinda need to talk to you,' and he didn't respond. Then Rocky [Romero] got the Japanese visa and they were like 'we want you with Bullet Club.' I was like, 'sh-t I can't say no to that.' But if you ever talk to Cody he's like 'ah, I only ever use WhatsApp for one person.' Because I don't have like iMessage or anything. Tony Khan was like, 'hey, what's going on?' and I was like, 'well, he didn't respond to me on WhatsApp.' And then he f---ing called Cody backstage in front of everybody and was like, 'what's going on with ELP?' I was like 'dude, you didn't respond on WhatsApp.' And he was like, 'sh-t, you're the only person I talk to on WhatsApp!' Kind of a funny story." H/T:[Comicbook.com]

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Bill Apter believes Cody Rhodes may not win the Royal Rumble 2024

Veteran Journalist Bill Apter recently spoke about the top names in next year's Royal Rumble match. Apter believes Cody Rhodes may not be the one to win the 30-man Royal Rumble Match.

Speaking on Sportskeeda's Wrestling Time Machine hosted by Mac Davis, Bill Apter explained how CM Punk could be the choice to win the Royal Rumble 2024:

"I'd do the first-time-ever Royal Rumble, where somehow both of them go over the top rope at the same time, and they get a choice of who to choose. And, of course, CM Punk will choose Seth Rollins. Cody will choose Roman Reigns. I don't know what those two left in the ring at this point. I am gonna say that it is probably gonna be Punk if they are the last two guys. Unfortunate for Cody because you know Cody has been in a top top spot. But now Punk has come in, and the whole field of play has changed." [6:05 onwards]

Do you agree with Bill Apter? Let us know in the comments below.