Cody Rhodes Calls Leaving AEW “The Easiest Thing I Ever Did”

Cody Rhodes feels like leaving AEW was easy for him to do because of a personal issue.

The new, two-hour Peacock documentary covering the life and career of WWE superstar Cody Rhodes was released earlier this week. It covered his entire life and career in a thorough way that left viewers satisfied because they really got to know the real story of Cody’s life.

One of the most revealing parts of the documentary was when they covered early 2022 when Cody’s three-year contract with All Elite Wrestling expired and WWE swooped in to talk to the man that worked for them from 2006 to 2016. That led to Cody returning to WWE after a meeting with Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard.

While discussing his WWE return, Cody Rhodes said this about his AEW departure.

“I can’t tell you why I left AEW, I can’t and I won’t but I’ll tell you the reasons that were said that didn’t actually matter.”

“I didn’t leave AEW because of money and I didn’t leave AEW because of other talents. I left AEW because of a personal issue. That’s it.”

“But the by-product of leaving AEW is the opportunity to go for the biggest dream I ever had and the first dream that I had in my life.”

What that “personal issue” is remains unknown, but what we do know is that Cody’s biggest dream is to become the WWE Champion, which is something he dreamed about seeing his legendary father Dusty Rhodes holding that title. In the photo of Dusty holding that WWE Title, it was after a countount win and Dusty never actually won the title. However, Cody plans to win it some day.

Cody Rhodes Feels Like It Was Easy For Him To Leave AEW

During an interview with GQ, Cody was asked if it was hard for him to leave AEW, a company that he helped create, Cody replied that it was actually very easy.

“No, it was the easiest thing I ever did. And it’s because I had a personal issue that I wasn’t going through, over, or around. I was just going to steer clear of it.”

“If anything, I wanted to look at what we had done at AEW and say, ‘Amazing, what a wonderful time, a beautiful memory, and very special in every way. And now it’s time to move on.’ You know, all good things. And it certainly was like that with me. So I mean it not in a negative way, like I was happy to burn rubber and speed out, but it just wasn’t a decision that was difficult for me at all. Or for Brandi [Rhodes, his wife and former AEW executive].

In one of his many other interviews, Cody Rhodes also revealed that he never wanted to leave WWE in the first place, but he felt like he had to do it at that point in his career.

Next up for Cody Rhodes is a SummerSlam showdown with “The Beast” Brock Lesnar this Saturday in Detroit.

In a recent AMA on Reddit, Rhodes revealed what he hopes his legacy will be when his career is finished.