Tony Khan Recalls How It Felt When Cody Rhodes Left AEW

AEW President Tony Khan has opened up on the impact losing Cody Rhodes had on the company.

In a year of major pro wrestling news stories, the first big surprise of 2022 came when Cody Rhodes announced he was leaving AEW, the company he played an important role in creating.

As well as having a big onscreen presence in the TNT Championship division, he was heavily involved in the promotion backstage as an Executive Vice President who helped spearhead AEW’s community outreach programmes.

Following his departure, Rhodes signed with WWE and made his return to the company at WrestleMania 38 as Seth Rollins’ mystery opponent and emerged victorious on The Grandest Stage Of Them All.

Now, during an interview with Grapsody, Tony Khan has opened up on Cody Rhodes leaving and the impact it had.

“It was, certainly, whenever you lose a star the calibre of Cody Rhodes, it’s going to have a major impact on your company and affect a number of different departments and number of different things in terms of the presentation and the backstage.

“Personally, I really like Cody and I know Cody really well. He was so involved in so many different facets with the start of AEW and what we were.”

However, while losing Rhodes was a blow, Tony Khan believes the company was in a stong position and able to weather the storm.

“When he left, that was a major challenge. Going into Revolution, we had so many great stories and I think it helped us and helped keep us strong that people were so invested in what was happening in AEW at the time.”

H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.