Cody Rhodes has spoken in detail about his reasons for leaving AEW, citing feelings of disrespect as a key motivator for his 2022 return to WWE.
While speaking with Bill Simmons, Rhodes discussed the emotions surrounding his exit from AEW, a company he co-founded as an Executive Vice President in 2019.
While acknowledging there is both “bad blood” and “respect and love,” he contrasted feeling like “a number” in the past at an established global entity like WWE with feeling disrespected at a place he helped to build..
If I felt disrespected ever at WWE, that’s one thing. That’s a company that was built…You know, that’s the Yankees. If I ever felt there, you know, I was just a number on a sheet, maybe.
But feeling disrespected at something I built — with my friends and with us that we built — feeling disrespected there. I wouldn’t stand for it.
Rhodes credited his wife, Brandi, for being supportive in the decision to leave, stating they were in agreement. He felt he was on the verge of something special with his ‘American Nightmare’ character and was determined to see it through, even if it meant going elsewhere.
We were sitting on something magic. And if I’m not going to do it in the house that I literally with Matt [Jackson], Nick [Jackson]and Kenny [Omega] built, then buddy, I’m going elsewhere.
Rhodes revealed that when he first knew he would be entering talks with Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard, his intention was not to secure a contract but to find closure. He wanted to formally thank them for the training he received during his first run with WWE, acknowledging he had left on “crazy bad terms” years earlier.
I was excited to go to that meeting to say, and this is going to sound crazy. I wanted to tell them both, “Thank you.” I left on crazy bad terms…I wanted to tell them both thanks. You guys helped build me and train me. And I took all those skills and I took them everywhere I went…That’s all I thought it was going to be: a sense of closure, a real sense of thank you so much for lessons I never got to thank you for.
That meeting ultimately turned into his return at WrestleMania 38.
Rhodes said he doesn’t believe in “cold-hearted, backstabby type of revenge.” “The greatest revenge on earth is success,” he stated.
Despite animosity from the “schism” that occurred, Rhodes expressed gratitude for how his career has unfolded since his return. He cited headlining WrestleMania, breaking records, and securing the “quarterback spot” at the “biggest game in town.”
Summing up his 2022 career shift, Rhodes said: “It was a good career move.”
What do you want to talk about? Not Vince McMahon
Elsewhere in the interview, Simmons briefly raised the topic of Vince McMahon’s departure from WWE but told Cody Rhodes he was not going to put him in a position to have to talk about it.
Simmons explained his reasoning for avoiding the subject, saying:
It’s like, because you’re going to give a shitty answer. Neither want to talk about it. You can Google it.
Rhodes said:
Sometimes you give a shitty answer, and then somebody will ask a follow-up and the next answer is even worse. There’s no answer here, you know.
Simmons concluded, “Vince was there almost 50 years and now he’s not. And we all know what happened.”
The entire interview runs to almost two hours.
