Cody Rhodes AEW Departure Was Not About World Title Stipulation

Cody Rhodes’ departure from AEW to WWE has left many fans with lot of questions. Cody attempted to address those concerns on last night’s WWE Raw. Rhodes said that his intentions were clear: He was coming back to WWE to fulfill his father’s legacy and win the world championship.

Many AEW fans speculated that Cody Rhodes leaving Tony Khan’s company was because of some sort of sour grapes. One of the most frequently cited reasons is because Cody never became a world champion in the company. Those guesses, however, are incorrect.

On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed Cody’s decision to jump ship. Dave noted that Cody himself did not want to be booked as AEW World Champion. The influence of Dusty Rhodes heavily influenced the decisions and behaviors that led to him leaving AEW for WWE.

“Because of the storyline, people now think that the reason he left was because he was not going to be allowed to win the AEW title. That had nothing at all to do with it. It makes for a good story, but the belt had nothing to do with it.

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It was his choice, because he was a booker, his choice was he did not want to win the title because he didn’t want to be like… I don’t want to say the bad part of Dusty… He loves Dusty. Obviously, Dusty’s his hero. Dusty’s his dad. Dusty taught the business to him.

That’s why when certain things happened, I always think of Dusty and how Dusty would’ve handled it, and that is the molding of Cody, which is why this happening… It was a surprise, but once he kind of told me a few things, without telling me what he was doing, I understood it, because it was like, ‘This is how Dusty would feel if he didn’t get what he wanted.’ I don’t know what it is that he wanted, but it wasn’t the championship because, I’m not saying he could’ve won the championship. Tony made the choices on who was going to be the champion. Cody, he said it before, his list when this company started was, it was going to be Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, and Adam Page, in that order. And he did not vary from that…”

Cody Rhodes will now refocus on becoming a world champion in WWE. The company appears to be behind him in a huge way. Time will tell what’s next for The American Nightmare as the next part of his journey in pro wrestling is just getting started.

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Transcription by Ringside News