DDP Was Surprised Tony Khan Let Cody Rhodes Leave AEW
DDP thinks that Tony Khan made a big mistake in allowing Cody Rhodes to leave AEW, especially given how much Cody contributed to AEW both on screen and off.
Cody wasn’t just a big star in the wrestling business when AEW first started; he was one of the original masterminds behind the company’s creation. It was him, Kenny Omega, and the Young Bucks that put the plan to launch AEW in motion. Tony Khan didn’t enter the picture until sometime later.
During AEW first few years, Cody wore many different hats and took on many non-wrestling responsibilities backstage. Because of this, DDP, a close friend of the Rhodes family, was surprised to say the least that Tony Khan didn’t do more to keep Cody in the company.
Speaking in an interview with Inside The Ropes, DDP elaborated on how serious Cody’s departure was and likened it to WCW losing Steve Austin in 1995.
“If I was Tony Khan, I never would have let him go. To me, it was like when Eric Bischoff let go of Stone Cold Steve Austin and I was like ‘Noooo, not him, not him’ and we all know what happened there.”
DDP emphasized how important Cody Rhodes was to AEW by pointing out some of the stuff he did. Not only did Cody actually write some of AEW’s TV shows, but he also allegedly discovered MJF and brought him to the company.
“He (Cody Rhodes) would write the TVs. Like it’s challenging to write TVs and storylines and all of that. And Tony was right there, Tony Khan, but Tony didn’t know how to do that. He learned that from Cody.
There is no way if I was Tony Khan, I’m losing Cody Rhodes. There is no way. I mean the other guys are important too, big time, they’re monster superstars but the guy who technically knows how to do the behind-the-scenes storytelling.
Just to point out a couple of them, when I watched Darby Allin go out there, for the very first time, no one knows anything about him except for on the independent scene.
When I watch him go out there, and I never wanna know the finish – he knows that – I wanna watch. I wanna watch like a fan. I watched him go 20 minutes broadway. First of all, I don’t even remember when the last broadway was, it was so long ago.
But Cody saw something in that kid that no one saw in a 5 foot 8, 155-pound kid, nobody saw it but he did. That’s why he got the job.
He also was the one who discovered MJF, who is the best heel in the business from top to bottom. Because he could work, because he knows how to be the heel, the chicken s**t and he loves people booing him. He does not want anybody to cheer him, nobody.”
h/t SEScoops for the transcription