Everything Changed In AEW When Cody Rhodes Left Claims Ex-Star
A former AEW star has claimed things started going south in the company when Cody Rhodes made his shock exit.
The wrestling world was stunned when Cody Rhodes announced his AEW exit in February 2022, just weeks before he made his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38.
Rhodes was a founding member of AEW and one of the four wrestling EVPs in the company, which meant he had a greater degree of power than most.
Speaking to Bill Apter, Chris Featherstone, and Dutch Mantell on Sportskeeda, Jake Hager discussed his experience in AEW and was asked if things changed when Cody Rhodes left for WWE in 2022:
I was thinking about that today. I think everything changed after he left because he was involved with it, and after that, it just kind of became a free-for-all. Young Bucks and Kenny still had a big say in what they were doing. Chris (Jericho), obviously, has a big say in what he’s doing.
Even Chris, he would tell me that Tony would not respond to his messages for two weeks. It became a point where, either AEW is important or it’s not. It just seemed like it was not to him. They stopped doing production meetings.
They stopped doing anything to make the show timely. We would be waiting around to 5 PM to find out what we were doing that day. What live television show does that? Only one with money behind it.
Jake Hager Called Out By AEW Stars
Jake Hager announced he was retired from wrestling as he has embarked on a media tour, which has involved tearing down AEW and Tony Khan at almost every opportunity.
Hager’s comment about an all-talent meeting caused a stir, with Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler calling Hager out for telling apparent lies about their involvement at a dark time for the company.
Jake Hager was the surprise debutant on the very first edition of Dynamite in 2019 as he joined Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle. Some might find Hager’s timing notable given increasing rumours that his close friend Chris Jericho is also set to swap AEW for a return to WWE.