Why did Cody Rhodes leave AEW? Looking back at The American Nightmare's surprising departure
Earlier tonight, AJ Styles looked back at Cody Rhodes' career. He then mentioned how Rhodes had left the company he helped create. Now just what had happened that made him leave AEW despite being one of its founders and an Executive Vice President?
In 2019, alongside The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, they helped create All Elite Wrestling, and all four men signed long-term deals with the promotion. Cody ended up being one of the highlights of the company, challenging for the world title right away, and although he never won it, the matches he put on were highly-rated by the fans. He also became a multi-time TNT Champion, before eventually leaving in 2022.
Cody Rhodes left the promotion along with his wife as they reportedly couldn't agree on a contract. He then went on to make his return at WrestleMania 38 that year in a match against Seth Rollins.
Last year, in his documentary American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes, he was transparent in his reason for leaving AEW. He revealed that he could not disclose the exact reason for his departure but mentioned that this was not due to money or an issue with other talent but rather another personal issue. He then revealed that he also left because he was chasing his dream.
"This is my one request in this entire documentary. This one answer, I don’t want edited in any capacity. Don’t edit this part. I can’t tell you why I left AEW. I can’t, and I won’t, but I’ll tell you the reasons that were said that didn’t actually matter. I didn’t leave AEW because of money and I didn’t leave AEW because of other talents. I left AEW because of a personal issue. That’s it. The byproduct of leaving AEW is the opportunity to go for the biggest dream I ever had and the first dream I had in my life," said Rhodes. [H/T - Ringside News]
Cody Rhodes also addressed his AEW departure after his WWE return
A month after his return to WWE, during his appearance on Stone Cold Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions, Cody Rhodes talked about another reason why he left AEW and that was that he did not want to be a gatekeeper.
He talked about how he felt that he did not want to hold back others or have the focus be on himself too much, being one of the founders of the company. He even cited some memes the IWC had made about this.
"The bottom line is that, it was my baby, it's growing up and people are having fun and it doesn't need me. Why I thought, it didn't need me... I'm not being totally honest, maybe it did need me, but here's what I needed; I did not want to be a gatekeeper wrestler. I did not want to be, 'This is Cody's thing, AEW.' Some people look at it that way, not everybody does. 'First program, they wrestle Cody, then they do Chris (Jericho's) podcast.' There's a whole meme about it. I didn't want to be a gatekeeper."
It seems that in the end, Cody Rhodes' decision ended up working out for him as now he has achieved his dream of becoming his family's first WWE Champion, and he now stands at the top of the company.