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The backstory
On January 1, 2019, Cody Rhodes and the rest of his Elite stablemates inaugurated their All Elite Wrestling promotion. However, prior to AEW, all members of The Elite were a vital part of New Japan Pro Wrestling where they had won numerous notable championship belts, including 'The American Nightmare' Cody Rhodes.
At NJPW: Fighting Spirit Unleashed, 2018, Cody Rhodes challenged his former WWE colleague Juice Robinson (formerly known as CJ Parker) to a singles match for the IWGP United States Championship.
Prior to the match at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Cody had pinned Robinson on the final day of the G1 Climax 28 in a tag team match featuring Hangman Page teaming up with his fellow Bullet Club stablemate and Juice being paired with his usual tag team partner David Finlay. Cody's pinfall win over Robinson eventually set up this title match between the pair.
Also heading into this event, Cody and The Young Bucks were on the back of a successful self-financed wrestling show called All In which took place at the Sears Center Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. At the show, Cody made history when he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Nick Aldis.
Cody becomes a Triple Champion at Fighting Spirit Unleashed
On September 30th, 2018, at NJPW's inaugural Fighting Spirit Unleashed event (exactly one year ago), Cody Rhodes challenged Juice Robinson for the IWGP US Championship.
Rhodes, who had previously beaten Robinson in his New Japan debut match at Wrestle Kingdom 11, made history when he once again pinned the latter this time in order to win the IWGP US Championship. This win also marked Cody's first title in NJPW and also made his a Triple Champion, as he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, IWGP US Championship, and was also one-third of the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champions along with The Young Bucks.
The historic win also made Cody the first person in history to hold both the NWA and the IWGP US Heavyweight Championships at the same time. The American Nightmare also took to Twitter recently and commented on his historic win from one year ago.
The aftermath
Despite the historic title win, Cody was unable to defend his title due to injury and at Wrestle Kingdom 13, the former Bullet Club star lost the championship back to Juice Robinson, which was also Cody's last match for the promotion.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
