Cody Rhodes Reflects On Infamous AEW “Exit Interview”
Cody Rhodes was one of the founding fathers of AEW back in early 2019 which is why the wrestling world was stunned when he announced he was leaving the promotion less than three years later.
On his way out the door of the company, Cody Rhodes knew exactly what he wanted to talk about in a promo that seemed to take shots at just about everyone in the company while the AEW fans seemed to clamor for Rhodes to simply shut up and turn heel.
A few short weeks later and nobody was considering such a thing as Cody Rhodes returned to WWE to a hero’s welcome at WrestleMania 38.
Speaking to Sam Roberts on Not Sam Wrestling, Cody Rhodes looked back on that interview and explained that part of him wanted to remind fans just who helped make AEW possible at a time when it had not long brought in the likes of CM Punk, Adam Cole, and Bryan Danielson:
“I think it’s easy for me now to say ‘Oh, I definitely knew,’ but it wasn’t the case. I didn’t know. The last thing I did at AEW, no one really knows, the last thing I did was coach a match – and I wasn’t the best coach, I’m more of, ‘Let you do what you want to’ and then we talk about it after – with Ruby (Soho) and Nyla Rose. That was the last thing.
“I remember walking out the door, they did fine, it wasn’t anything to do with them. I remember thinking, ‘I think I’m leaving.’
“That promo, I remember I mentioned it to Punk as well, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to say this,’ I’m not a fan of blindsiding anybody. Where we’re terrible at is social media. ‘My opponent just nuked me,’ then you nuke him back. Alright, no trust and we’re at the peak level of fervor.
“I look at it now and I call it the ‘exit interview.’ Maybe, selfishly, egotistically, I wanted to remind them, ‘I appreciate the company has changed, I do. Please know though, there is no company had these things not have happened.’
“Other things had to happen; (Chris) Jericho had to do his stuff, Bucks had to do their stuff, Kenny (Omega) had to do stuff, (Jon) Moxley had to do stuff, he’s a big part of it too, I don’t give him credit enough. I just wanted to let them know. The other part was sincerely, this is being a heel, saying you’re not going to be a heel. It was just too meta.”
Although Ruby Soho and Nyla Rose have clashed a few times in AEW, the match in question appears to be on the 2nd of February 2023 edition of Dynamite which happened to be the one that saw Rhodes’ one-time protege MJF defeat CM Punk in Chicago, Illinois. Less than two weeks later Cody and Brandi Rhodes both announced they were leaving AEW.