[Watch] Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens give rare shout-out to top AEW stars

Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens are kindred spirits, and both of them share a deep connection with AEW EVPs The Young Bucks. KO and The American Nightmare recently gave a shout-out to their friends from across the promotional divide.

When Cody Rhodes left WWE back in 2016, Kevin Owens—who had run the roads with Matt and Nick Jackson for years—gave The Young Bucks a call and asked them to look after his friend until he learned the ropes on the independent scene. The result was Rhodes joining Bullet Club and, ultimately, The Elite.

The three would go on to create the original All In event, which set the stage for AEW to take shape once Tony Khan got involved. Although Rhodes and Owens are now separated from The Young Bucks, they all remain friends to this day.

Kevin Owens was Cody's guest on the latest episode of What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast The two gave a toast to Matt and Nick Jackson, as seen in the clip below:

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Kevin Owens helped lay the blueprint for modern independent wrestlers to find success

In the early 2010s, Kevin Owens was making a name for himself alongside Sami Zayn and The Young Bucks on the independent scene. But when he was struggling to make ends meet, he turned to Colt Cabana.

The latter was already a pioneer in self-promotion for indie wrestlers, and he put KO in touch with the owner of One Hour Tees, which ultimately evolved into Pro Wrestling Tees, the primary merch distribution tool for modern independent talents and even some major promotions.

Owens told the story on the same episode of What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, noting that he, Colt Cabana, and The Young Bucks were the first to take advantage of the website:

"He's like, 'Some wrestlers cannot afford to make shirts ahead of time,' and then they came up with this concept because of me. Because Colt was trying to help me. And then the first ones on the site were me, the Bucks (The Young Bucks), Colt, and the site grew and grew," said Owens.

Kevin Owens would sign with WWE in 2014, and The Young Bucks would go on to revolutionize the template Cabana and Owens had helped establish, providing a path for many, including top stars like Matt Cardona and Danhausen, to find success.

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Edited by Jeevak Ambalgi