WWE star earns praise from veteran for standing up to Cody Rhodes on SmackDown - "He didn't back off at all" (Exclusive)

Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell recently spoke about Cody Rhodes squaring off against Chad Gable. The American Nightmare kicked off the show this week with a promo segment.

During the promo, Cody Rhodes discussed the return of Saturday Night's Main Event. He also addressed his upcoming match at the event against former friend turned foe, Kevin Owens. Before he could complete his promo, Chad Gable and the rest of American Made interrupted the Undisputed WWE Champion.

This week on Sportskeeda Wrestling's SmackTalk, Mantell mentioned it was a great segment. He pointed out that both stars got their moments to shine during the exchange. The former manager was especially impressed by Gable and claimed the former Olympian held his own against Cody despite losing the match.

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"I think it was a good first segment. Cody got his stuff in, Chad got his stuff in. He didn't back off at all. I think he came off that interview stronger than he went in it. He held his own verbally, even though he got beat in the match." [19:20 onwards]

After the initial exchange on SmackDown, Cody Rhodes had the last laugh over Gable as he defeated the star in the main event. However, he could not celebrate his win after Kevin Owens blindsided him.

It will be interesting to see if Rhodes can get retribution from the Prizefighter during their match at Saturday Night's Main Event.

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