Cody Rhodes has revealed that four years after leaving AEW, the real reason behind his departure has never been publicly disclosed and that every narrative fans have constructed about what happened falls well short of the truth.
Speaking during a media tour in New York City on The Breakfast Club, Rhodes addressed previous comments he made crediting his wife, Brandi, for deciding to stay silent about why the two left AEW, calling her approach selfless and saying it helped them move forward without unnecessary baggage.
“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.”
Rhodes acknowledged that the decision to stay silent came with its own cost, specifically the inevitable rush of speculation that fills any vacuum of information.
“One of the sad things about not talking about why we left and the departure, one of the difficult things was narratives get created. Stories get told, podcasts happen, fans literally think they know what happened when no one’s been even close,” Rhodes said. “And what I would say is the selfless part, she 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.”
While Rhodes has kept the specifics private, he has previously acknowledged that a personal issue was involved and that he felt disrespected toward the end of his time with AEW. Despite that, he maintains that he loves and respects the promotion and continues to root for its success. Tony Khan has spoken positively about Cody since his departure, and the two have had cordial interactions when they have crossed paths.
Rhodes and Brandi left AEW in February 2022, and Cody returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 shortly after. He is now a three-time Undisputed WWE Champion heading into his fourth consecutive WrestleMania main event, defending the title against Randy Orton in the Night 1 main event of WrestleMania 42 on April 18 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Breakfast Club with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
