Top critic claims Cody Rhodes' WrestleMania XL moment wouldn't have happened without AEW

Former AEW executive vice president Cody Rhodes finished his story last night at WrestleMania XL. The American Nightmare finally vanquished Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, and noted critic Ariel Helwani claims the moment couldn't have happened without Tony Khan and AEW.

When Cody Rhodes returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38, fans were shocked to see that the Stamford-based company had kept his AEW presentation almost entirely intact. Having been a founding father and arguably the face of its rival promotion, WWE capitalized on Cody's status to bring him in as a top star.

On today's edition of The MMA Hour, Ariel Helwani made it clear that Tony Khan and All Elite Wrestling deserve to be recognized for helping bring Cody Rhodes' story to fruition. While Helwani has sparked some incendiary discussion lately in his interviews with CM Punk and even Rhodes himself, the 41-year-old gave props to the young company for the changes it's brought to the wrestling industry:

"Last night doesn't happen, and last night isn't the success that it was and the moment that it was, and the moment that will be remembered from now until eternity and one of the greatest WrestleMania moments of all time... It does not happen if not for AEW and Tony Khan. It doesn't exist," said Helwani. [0:24 - 0:42]

Ariel Helwani further expressed his hope that AEW takes pride in its role, proclaiming that Cody's development in the Jacksonville-based promotion made him the star he is today:

"If not for him leaving and meeting Tony Khan, and them with the rest of the guys starting AEW, he does not become the talent and the superstar that he becomes, and he doesn't become sought after by WWE to come back and do all this and have this moment yesterday. It doesn't happen because when he left, he wasn't this guy." [1:13 - 1:33]

Helwani also emphasized the importance of All Elite Wrestling to the industry and how vital competition and different options are to the business in general.

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Several AEW talents were at WrestleMania XL to support Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes faced one of the biggest challenges of his life at WrestleMania XL. The American Nightmare ultimately triumphed over The Tribal Chief with the help of Seth Rollins, but he also had some old friends from AEW there to cheer him on from the stands.

Alongside Amanda Huber and Brodie Lee Jr. (aka The Dark Order's Negative 1), All Elite star Ricky Starks was spotted at WrestleMania last night. Starks is a good friend of Cody's and was also on hand to support him during last year's Royal Rumble.

The former AEW World Tag Team Champion was a bit less incognito this year and appeared in several photos and fan videos at the event. Check it out:

Cody Rhodes recently expressed his desire to see Ricky Starks make the jump to WWE, but with no clear indication of The Absolute One's contract status, fans will have to wait and see if he turns up at future events for the Stamford-based company.