Cody Rhodes sets the record straight on his AEW exit.
After helping put All Elite Wrestling on the map in 2019, Cody Rhodes left the promotion just three years into its existence. Reports at the time suggested that Rhodes was unhappy with the company’s creative direction.
The American Nightmare made his high-profile return to WWE at WrestleMania 38, where he competed in one of the most memorable WWE premium live event matches of 2022 against Seth Rollins. The rest, as they say, is history.
Cody Rhodes recently appeared on The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast. During the conversation, the former multi-time world champion dismissed the notion that he had grown distant from his AEW peers. He noted that he was in a good place personally but ultimately chose to leave in order to bet on himself again in WWE.
“I was presented as if I never existed there in a way. I was presented as this fully polished ready….if you didn’t know and you were this young kid watching you were like, ‘that’s so cool’ and you jumped right in. If you did (know), you were rewarded for knowing the journey,” Rhodes said.
Cody Rhodes reflects on his AEW engagements
“The situation, looking back at it now, so many things were happening. I had two television shows on Warner Media. I had to juggle that. I had to really weigh it out. Obviously, opportunity is amazing, but I had to weigh it out. ‘Is this a mistake? They didn’t see it the first time. They saw a little, but they didn’t see it.’ You think the first time leaving was the biggest mistake ever.
“Coming back, my fear was, ‘this could be the biggest gamble of all.’ I had a good gig. Contrary to what you hear, I had a good gig. I had an executive job. I loved the Bullet Club guys. Evolving and moving myself forward, it was a lot to weigh out. Had I gone and belly flopped in the pool, it wouldn’t have hurt WWE at all. It would have been, ‘See, he wasn’t. He was little league all along,’” he said. [H/T Fightful]
Cody Rhodes is set for action at the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble. WrestleZone will provide live coverage of the PLE on January 31.
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