What if AEW fails in its first year?

#3. Cody Rhodes is blackballed from WWE

Cody Rhodes may not get another shot with WWE if his attempt to compete fails.

There are quite a few AEW talents whom WWE would probably welcome (or welcome back) into the fold if AEW doesn’t work out. Cody Rhodes will be an interesting case.

Rhodes was a WWE mainstay for nearly a decade and probably could have rode out most of his career under the WWE banner in one capacity or another. He elected to try his hand bouncing around smaller promotions and was successful enough that WWE reportedly offered him a lot of money to come back before the announcement of AEW.

If AEW fails, Rhodes will not only face the stigma of having first walked away from, then turned down a return offer from WWE. He’ll suffer from having started his own promotion with all indications that he meant to compete.

If AEW succeeds for a while, Rhodes could still get another WWE opportunity like Eric Bischoff or Jeff Jarrett before him. If the company fails quickly, though, Rhodes may become a cautionary tale and not get another chance.