Backstage News On WWE Talk About A Cody Rhodes Return

Cody Rhodes has been working as a free agent for AEW since the turn of the year, and that has led to speculation on what he will do next.

On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted Cody Rhodes has not been under contract with AEW since the end of December. Initially, it was believed he would definitely be re-signing with the company. However, it was noted that his status is up in the air.

There was a lot of talk backstage at Monday Night Raw this week in regards to him returning to WWE. Meltzer noted that there was chatter within certain circles in WWE about the potential of him going back to the company. Of course, Cody is a founding member of AEW, and served as an Executive Vice President when he was under contract.

The former TNT Champion has appeared several times on AEW Dynamite this year, despite not having an official deal with the company. He even held the title while being a free agent, but the American Nightmare recently dropped it to Sammy Guevara. When it comes to WWE, Cody spent a decade working for the company from 2006 to 2016.

Rhodes started out in Ohio Valley Wrestling, and then spent his entire career on the main roster. During his stint with WWE, he was a two-time WWE Tag Team Champion and a three-time World Tag Team Champion. Cody also held the Intercontinental Championship twice as well as winning two Slammy Awards.

During an interview backstage after AEW Beach Break, Cody Rhodes addressed his status. He admitted that he is working on a handshake deal with Tony Khan right now.

"There's so many elephants in the room," Rhodes admitted. "I'm working here without a contract, I'm not even on the payroll anymore. I'm working here on a handshake deal, that is 100% legitimate.

"But I can tell you this, I've never felt more at home than under those lights, wrestling for the TNT Title, a title that will never, ever be secondary because of matches like that."