AEW lost an EVP when Cody Rhodes departed from the company, but WWE picked up a main event talent. The exact reasons behind Cody’s AEW exit have not really been detailed, and it might stay that way.
Cody Rhodes spoke briefly during his WWE documentary about why he left AEW. He didn’t go into a ton of details, and it felt like he was holding something back at the same time.
“I left AEW because of a personal issue–that’s it, but the byproduct of leaving AEW is the opportunity to go for the biggest dream I ever had, and the first dream I had in my life.”
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter made a mention about what Cody Rhodes said about his AEW departure. It was also noted that there was an “agreement” between Cody Rhodes and Tony Khan that prohibited Rhodes was speaking about exactly why he left.
As expected, because of the agreement made with Cody Rhodes and Tony Khan when he left, there were no real details about why he left AEW in the WWE-produced documentary that came out on 7/31.
That’s actually the furthest he’s said about it, although he’s many times said about rumors it involved the Young Bucks that they had nothing to do with it. There’s no arguing it ended up being the right career move for him and one of the best moves WWE has made because he’s a major part of their business turnround along with the Bloodline and Sami Zayn, Paul Levesque taking over the bulk of the work as head of creative and a lot of other things that were part of that groundswell. Levesque essentially said that Rhodes left because he didn’t want to be the champion of a secondary promotion.
Tony Khan might not have wanted Cody Rhodes to reveal any skeletons in AEW’s closet. That being said, Arn Anderson has gone on record to say he believes there is no ill-will between TK and the American Nightmare.
The report also noted that, “whatever the real reason, we’ve had contact with a number of key people in AEW about it, as well as Tony Khan and Rhodes. Rhodes and Khan wouldn’t say anything per their agreement and Rhodes made the comment that it was just the right time to leave the territory and go to a new territory, which it was. Others seemingly didn’t know because every story we got from different people were different speculation, with most being surprised but one person told us that he wasn’t surprised but it was still different speculations as to why as opposed to knowing the reason.”
AEW and WWE will keep going during this boom in the pro wrestling world. There is a lot going on, and Cody Rhodes knows all about that. After all, he appeared in both AEW Fight Forever and WWE 2k23 this year. He is also loving his time in WWE, and doesn’t need to drum up any past drama.
We will keep our eye on this ongoing story, and everything else going on in the pro wrestling world, right here at Ringside News. As always, check out the comments below to let us know what you think!