Manik Aftab on February 18, 2022
Cody Rhodes left All Elite Wrestling due to losing booking power and creative control. He also reportedly wanted a bigger pay raise but Tony Khan wasn’t willing to agree to the terms.
The latest word regarding the whole Cody Rhodes situation is that Khan could have legally kept the former TNT champion from leaving the company. Khan had this power for every other performer whose deal had the option clause, Cody’s being one of them. After all, Khan picked up options on every other EVP.
Dave Meltzer in Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that Khan couldn’t match WWE’s offer to Cody. Cody left the multi-billion dollar conglomerate in 2016 over frustrations involving his on-screen character. Now he is going back, but Tony Khan could have kept that from happening if he wanted to.
“Some close to the situation believed he got such a big offer from WWE after becoming free agent that he couldn’t turn it down. But there is still the unanswered question of why his contract wasn’t rolled over because legally Khan did have control to prevent this from happening. Khan had done so for every other person whose deal had that option clause and thus couldn’t negotiate for a WWE deal if they wanted to test the outside market.”
Khan was almost in tears over the departure of one of the founding fathers of the company after Dynamite went off the air this past Wednesday. Pictures on social media showed a visibly distraught Khan being hugged by Best Friends as they tried to console him.
What’s your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!
February 18, 2022 7:01 am
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