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Cody Rhodes Has A Different Assessment Of AEW Than CM Punk, Says He’s Very Proud Of AEW

Cody Rhodes discusses CM Punk and the former AEW World Champion’s issues with The Elite.

CM Punk sparked controversy with his comments about AEW in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, as he criticized the company and their CEO, Tony Khan.

Speaking on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, WWE star and former AEW EVP Cody Rhodes was asked about CM Punk’s comments about AEW. Specifically, he was asked whether Punk saying that Tony Khan was a “nice guy” but not a boss was a fair assessment.

“That’s his assessment. It is not my assessment. It’s always important for me to remind people that I am so proud of what me, Matt, Nick, Kenny, Tony, Bernie, Brandi, and Dana, and Chris, and I name all these people because I was in those meetings. As much as the Internet will try to spin the narrative one way, if one of those people have not been at that start-up level, the company would not have happened, and I am so proud of what was created.

“I am so insanely proud of what it does for the industry overall, for wrestlers and their well-being and the ability to feed their families, and I have an unbelievable love for so many people in that locker room, including the Bucks, including Kenny, who, were bonded forever over this thing that we did. So it’s not my assessment. In my time there, the infrastructure was just being built up. But we were trying new things and doing things. It was a start-up company, a big-time start-up company but a start-up company, and I wish them nothing but the best.”

Cody Rhodes On CM Punk And The Elite

Cody Rhodes was also asked about CM Punk’s issues with The Elite and whether he had forseen any of these problems, given the individuals involved.

“I don’t think I foresaw any of the issues. I did kind of predict, it was unrelated to those guys, but I do remember predicting that there was gonna be certain guys who had been there who wanted to wave the banner, and, ‘Hey, you’ve not been here, and then brand-new guys, because you always need fresh blood, and like Punk coming back to WWE, it’s a great call. But I think those always would mesh. I just think what happened the is a ton of misunderstanding, a ton of miscommunication.

“You will see on indies and wrestlers that aren’t properly trained, and I’m not talking about bullying etiquette or anything like that, but you do need to have a little old-school in you to know the collaborativeness of what this is, and I just think they were ships in the night. I know I was Switzerland the last time you asked me. [But] I love Matt, Nick, and Kenny, and I love CM Punk. I don’t know how, but I do. I’m just happy for everyone involved, and I just think it was a ships-in-the-night thing. I wasn’t there, though.”

RELATED: Eddie Kingston On CM Punk’s Recent Comments: I Don’t Give A F*ck, He Doesn’t Work For AEW

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