Cody Rhodes On His AEW Departure: 'No One Has Even Been Close'

Cody Rhodes’ departure from All Elite Wrestling was as sudden as it was seismic, and four years on no-one has come close to guessing the reasons behind his exit, according to Rhodes himself.

Rhodes was one of AEW’s co-founders alongside fellow company EVPs Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and company President Tony Khan. When Cody and wife Brandi suddenly departed the promotion in 2022 it shocked the wrestling world, with speculation rampant regarding the nature of their departures. Speaking on the exit during a media appearance on The Breakfast Club, WWE Champion Cody said the following:

“Our departure from when we left the company we were with and helped create, and that was AEW, it came down to her deciding to not talk about it, that departure,” Rhodes said. “Like, we’re not going to talk about it. We’re moving on. Did bad stuff happen? Good stuff happened too. I’m not going to talk about it.”

“One of the sad things about not talking about why we left and the departure, one of the difficult things was narratives get created,” continued Rhodes. “Stories get told, podcasts happen, fans literally think they know what happened when no one’s been even close. And what I would say is the selfless part, she [Brandi] lives with that. She owns that. She respects not just here, but the place we left enough to say, I’m not going to talk about that. And that made it so that they’re good, they’re out of here. That was very, very helpful for us. And again, good stuff happened there too. But that’s what I mean by selfless, because she lives with that.”

In the years since his AEW departure, Cody has alluded to the fact he felt ‘disrespected’ at the end of his tenure, but still loves and respects the promotion and those involved, and roots for AEW’s continued success. AEW President Tony Khan has likewise spoken positively about Cody since his AEW exit.

H/T: WrestlingNews.co