Cody Rhodes Clarifies Why He Left AEW
It's been months since Cody Rhodes left AEW to rejoin WWE in time for WrestleMania 38, but the man occasionally known as the Roller Code-ster is still finding himself being asked to clarify just why he decided to make such a big career move. Rhodes did so again today, responding to a fan on Twitter who declared they were not watching AEW Double or Nothing due to Rhodes' departure. It should be noted the fan deleted the tweet after Rhodes' response.
"Full stop: the money and creative story that misguided brudda [sic] put out there has already been rebuffed by all parties," Rhodes tweeted. "I'm proud of my peers/kids there and my accomplishments as competitor/EVP. It was just personal and it was just time to go for the big one."
Full stop: the money and creative story that misguided brudda put out there has already been rebuffed by all parties
I'm proud of my peers/kids there and my accomplishments as competitor/EVP
It was just personal and it was just time to go for the big one https://t.co/qio42gF00y
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) May 26, 2022
It's unclear what reports Rhodes is referring to, though there were several reports by Wade Keller that several AEW talents disputed at the time, including one that claimed Rhodes' wife, Brandi Rhodes, was disliked backstage. Rhodes himself recently remarked in an appearance on the Broken Skull Sessions with Steve Austin that he left AEW because he didn't want to be "a gatekeeper" in the promotion.
Despite his departure, Rhodes has nonetheless gone out of his way to praise the promotion he helped found back in 2019, and has continued to encourage fans to watch AEW programming. He has also kept in touch with several members of the AEW roster, with FTW World Champion Ricky Starks recently revealing he still goes to Rhodes for advice. Starks made his AEW against Rhodes, unsuccessfully challenging for the AEW TNT Championship, back in 2020.