Cody Rhodes Says He Will Never Cheer Against AEW

Cody Rhodes, the wrestling sensation who made shockwaves with his return to WWE, had a memorable run in AEW as well but left the company eventually. Interestingly enough, Cody Rhodes has no intention of ever rooting against AEW.

Rhodes discussed his views on AEW and his journey from the company to WWE in a recent interview with Peter Rosenberg on Cheap Heat. Despite his new role at the top of WWE, Cody maintains a positive outlook on AEW, emphasizing that he would never root against the company he helped create.

Cody mentioned that the narrative around his contributions to AEW changed significantly after his departure, with some people spreading “propaganda” to diminish his role in AEW’s success. He cited a quote from the Young Bucks’ book that portrayed him as the last to sign on to AEW, but clarified that his relationship with Matt and Nick Jackson is as strong as ever, emphasizing that AEW wouldn’t exist without him.

”The narrative changed a lot about my contributions to AEW. That was very disappointing. There were some people, I’m not going to say their names, they know who they were, who kind of tried to put some propaganda out when I left. There’s a quote in the Young Bucks book about how I was last to the signing. Me, Matt, and Nick are as close as ever. So glad I had them in my career and my life. If we are being honest, AEW does not happen without me. It doesn’t. With that in mind, I could never root against them. It’s like having a kid and they go off to college and they get a DUI or they get in trouble. I’ll always have that in my heart for them.”

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Rhodes shared his thoughts on why he can’t root against AEW, likening the relationship to having a child who leaves for college and then makes mistakes. He described the pain of leaving AEW as a “gaping wound,” stating that he gave everything he could to the company and still has a deep connection with the people he signed, his friends, and the students from his wrestling school.

Cody also highlighted the importance of AEW’s success to the broader wrestling industry, noting that if AEW were to falter, it would have significant financial repercussions for professional wrestling and independent promotions.

“It was certainly a wound that is more gaping and painful than people realize because now they look at the situation, ‘oh man, you’re on top of the world, you have everything.’ They don’t understand that I really gave everything I could. I did. I could never see a day where I was rooting against them. From a completely outside-of-me perspective, my relationship to AEW, my friends, the kids I signed, and the people from my school. From outside of that, it’s very important that they hang in there because if that were to go away, I don’t think anybody in the locker room has any clue of the financial repercussions that would have on the wrestling business.

The trickle-down effect that would have on independent wrestling. We’ve created a really comfortable environment in sports entertainment for men and women to feed their families and to do well and be treated on a level that their global penetration ask for. I would hate to see that bubble burst. That’s a random fear I have when they’re down or if they’re up or whatever it may be. I would never root against them, in any case. That’s not always easy because random things said about you at press conferences, and that’s a big no no, you should never say me or my wife’s name, Tony should have told you that. I’ll never root against them, I really won’t.”

Cody Rhodes also revealed if he ever considered returning to AEW. Nonetheless, Rhodes and The Elite will always have a great relationship and that is unlikely to ever change.

Do you acknowledge Cody Rhodes’ contributions to AEW in general? Sound off in the comments section below!