Why Cody Rhodes Always Knew He’d Leave AEW
Cody Rhodes was one of the driving forces behind the formation of AEW but now the WWE Champion says he always knew his time there would be short.
In 2018, Cody Rhodes took a bet that changed the wrestling world forever. Rhodes and The Young Bucks put their money where their mouths were and put over 10,000 fans into an arena for one of the biggest independent shows of all time – the original All In.
That show led to to AEW being formed in early 2019 with Tony Khan’s financial backing and five years on, the company is still going strong, albeit without their original talisman.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Cody Rhodes discussed his role in the formation of AEW and the “villain” character he’s portrayed as by some:
You ever seen the end of The Dark Knight? Again, it’s super convoluted and I’m not comparing myself to Batman. But there’s a piece of it that’s really important. To certain fans from the AEW fandom, they need the story to be they didn’t want me, they pushed me [out], he was bad… They need that story, they need me to be the villain. I was always fine with accepting that because of the respect I have for it in the first place.
How difficult it was to do the original All In, how unbelievable the feeling was to do Double or Nothing. How fortunate we were that Tony wanted to invest in this vision and he had a vision as well. How special Matt and Nick in the BTE era and Kenny and my rivalry in New Japan, especially from a dollars and cents point. That made New Japan more money than anything they ever did and it made Ring of Honor go through the roof at the time.
So regardless of any petty squabbles, I will always have a love for it. I got to wrestle Brodie Lee’s final match. I got to lead people, young people, behind the scenes. I’ll always have a love for it.
Cody Rhodes Knew AEW “Was A Season”
However, it seems even as AEW was in its embryonic stages, Cody Rhodes knew there was a bigger platform for him out there and admits he always knew he’d leave:
I’m sure there’s some negative stuff, but I just remember it lovingly and I also knew I was leaving. I knew it was a season, I knew this isn’t gonna last and there’s something greater for me out there. I know that might sound negative to people, but it’s not. That’s the biggest prize in the wrestling game, if you put on boots, that’s the one. I just wanted to go get it and I had nothing but respect for my time there.
I got to sharpen my skills, like Hulkamania in the AWA, right before it came to WWE. It’s the same, the energy was there, the Renaissance was happening, it wasn’t just company-based. It was all there and I just have a love for it because I got to sharpen my skills.
By the time I got to WrestleMania and WWE I felt like okay, I’ve come back a complete package. I’m in command of this is how the music goes. I’m in command of who The American Nightmare is and I can I can know that and understand it better than a writer or producer and thankfully we have all those things but yeah, nothing but love. I’m trying to get something bad to say.
Cody Rhodes returned to WWE in 2022 at WrestleMania 38 and it’s hard to argue he didn’t make the right call. Since then he’s won back-to-back Royal Rumbles and headlined WrestleMania twice – something that would have seemed unthinkable during his first run in the company.
Cody Rhodes has become Undisputed WWE Champion and issued his own challenge for SummerSlam to one man who has his sights set on gold and so much more.