Michael Cole suddenly namedrops AEW legend at WWE Backlash 2025

The Voice of WWE Michael Cole suddenly namedropped a certain AEW legend tonight at Backlash. He did so just before the main event. Cole cited a bit of history right before the match.

Tonight's main event saw John Cena take on Randy Orton for possibly the final time in their career. This wasn't just a dream match, and the Undisputed WWE Championship was also on the line.

Moments before the match, Michael Cole brought up Cena becoming a 17-time World Champion, breaking the record he jointly held with Ric Flair previously. This is one of the biggest accolades Flair has achieved in his career spanning around five decades.

The WWE Hall of Famer was not present for this moment, as he revealed last month that he was still under a deal with All Elite Wrestling. He claimed that if he weren't working with Tony Khan, he would have been around for WrestleMania 41.

A report came out a few days later from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter debunking Ric Flair's claim. It was revealed that this was not the case with AEW contracts and that there was nothing holding back The Nature Boy from appearing at WrestleMania 41.

This could have been a complete misunderstanding on the part of the wrestling legend.

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