Cody Rhodes Reveals How Vince McMahon Really Discovered He Was Leaving AEW

2022 was a big year for Cody Rhodes, because he left AEW, where he was an EVP, in order to bet on himself once again. His return to WWE was met with a lot of anticipation, as fans waited to see if his Kingdom entrance would really ring out during WrestleMania 38 as Seth Rollins waited in the ring for him. It turns out that his big return was sparked thanks to the dirt sheets.

While speaking to the Flagrant podcast, Cody Rhodes revealed that Vince McMahon actually found out that the American Nightmare leaving AEW was legit, and not just a storyline for television. This was something that McMahon wanted to make very sure of, because he wanted to avoid contract tampering or any meddling of any sort.

Once Vince McMahon was assured that Cody Rhodes leaving AEW wasn’t just part of the show, then he made that offer. McMahon handled the situation in an old-school fashion, as he flew himself to Atlanta so he could speak with Cody about it face-to-face. It turns out that McMahon also found out about all of this through pro wrestling news.

“He found out through the dirt sheets — we need a better name for our wrestling media, but that’s what we call them — the dirt sheets. He found out that I’m free, free — nobody wanted to dabble — this isn’t a storyline, if this is a bit then we don’t need to be talking cause that’s trouble. He found out that I was free, free, and it was really old-school. He sat down and said, ‘hey, there’s no promises except for we are considering you wrestling Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 38 in Dallas.”

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Cody Rhodes said that Seth Rollins was someone he was “chasing” the first time he was in WWE, but he never quite got to the former Shield member’s level. Then Vince McMahon made Cody an offer after scribbling a number on a piece of paper.

Although Cody Rhodes didn’t reveal the exact number that Vince McMahon wrote on that piece of paper, it was “15 times more” than what WWE was paying him during his first run. That number must have been massive, and he obviously took the deal.

Cody wasn’t a free agent for 50 days before his massive WrestleMania 38 return. Cody later confirmed that his WWE RAW return promo wasn’t even approved, as the company let him speak from the heart.

Transcription by Ringside News