Cody Rhodes finally spills the beans about his "terrible" end in AEW
Tony Khan launched AEW in 2019 with help from many people, including his EVPs - Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega. Rhodes has since left the company to return to WWE in 2022 and is now opening up on what the end of his All Elite run was like. He's also borrowed a line from a famous Batman movie.
The American Nightmare was one of the top AEW talents in the ring, becoming the inaugural and a three-time TNT Champion. Rhodes also put immense effort into growing the company outside of the ring, doing media and other duties behind the scenes. Cody and his wife Brandi Rhodes left in February 2022 following contract talks and a personal issue cited by the current WWE star.
The former Stardust returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and has been on top ever since. While Rhodes has avoided most negative discussions on All Elite Wrestling, he admitted on INSIGHT's Chris Van Vliet that his AEW run ended terribly. The 18-year veteran was asked about taking the "high road" by never making disparaging remarks about his former company.
"I don’t know if I consider it the high road. Maybe it is. How could I not, right? How [my run in] AEW ended was terrible, really. People are gonna write books later on, and these stories are gonna get out there, and then it’s gonna be a whole new ballgame. But the actual experience and everything we did… I could never," Cody Rhodes said.
The 39-year-old mentioned being in Brodie Lee's final match and getting to lead young people behind the scenes as reasons why he will always have a love for AEW, and while there may be some "negative stuff," he remembers his time there lovingly.
"Have you seen the end of The Dark Knight? I think 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 [that] they didn’t want me, they pushed me out. They need, ‘He was bad,’ they need that story. They need me to be the villain," Cody Rhodes said. [H/T to Fightful]
Rhodes was fine with this narrative because of the respect he had for the situation, and how special the journey was. He declared he will always have a love for the company, despite any "petty squabbles" there may be.
Cody Rhodes on bringing Matt Cardona to AEW
Cody Rhodes brought several of his real-life friends to All Elite Wrestling during his time with the company. One of those top talents was Matt Cardona, formerly known as Zack Ryder in WWE.
After his 15-year run with WWE ended in April 2020, Cardona debuted in AEW that summer and saved Cody from The Dark Order. They then teamed up one week later to defeat John Silver and Alex Reynolds. Speaking on The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast, Rhodes recalled Cardona's limited contract and why he wanted Tony Khan to book The Long Island Iced-Z.
"At the time, when I was working for AEW, [I] had asked Matt [Cardona] if he wanted to be part of a tag team situation with me. Do something together, and then I think we worked it out, we talked about — what was it? Three or five shows? It wasn’t a long-term commitment, but I wanted to bring him in, and I wanted my friend. As you heard on the introduction earlier... my [does air quotes] 'best friend’... I wanted him to be part of what I was doing. WWE and [Matt] had parted ways at that point, so man... what a free agent that’s out there. This is just a win-win," Cody Rhodes said. [H/T WrestleZone]
Rhodes went on to reveal interesting details from Khan's awkward meeting with Cardona. He recalled how the meeting "killed him" and "tore him to shreds," due to the nature and setting.