When Cody Rhodes Started Negotiating New Deal With WWE

Cody Rhodes was unveiled as the newest WWE superstar at WrestleMania 38. It was one of the worst-kept secrets in the industry, but it was still surreal to see The American Nightmare make his entrance on the grandest stage of them all. Cody was a founding member and executive in All Elite Wrestling. The decision to jump ship was a major story.

Cody has now been established as one of the top superstars on WWE Raw. Rhodes will take on Seth Rollins at WrestleMania Backlash in a rematch from their Mania showdown. Cody looks right at home on his latest WWE run.

The mystery of exactly what happened to cause Cody Rhodes to leave AEW is still unfolding. On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer attempted to put together a timeline of Cody’s negotiations with WWE. February 2nd was the key date when everything changed.

“For those of you wondering about the timing, that means that he was negotiating with AEW at least through February 2^nd, which was after the Sammy Guevara match that he lost. When people go, ‘Why did Tony Khan not just renew him with his option year,’ the reality is that they were negotiating for more money on top of that.

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They were in talks. Obviously, come January 1^st, in some way, shape or form, he got an idea of what offer he could get elsewhere. The fact is, he said it was an easy decision, but the date was February 2^nd. Did this come right after the Royal Rumble or was he looking at staying and then all of the sudden something happened? Obviously, something happened. We know that.

Obviously, everyone wants to know the real story, and no one does. But the date at least lets you know. He made the decision February 2^nd, that week. He was at the hotel bar and he said it just became clear to him at that point that he had to go and that’s when he told his wife. And it would’ve been… The 14^th was the day it really broke. It publicly broke on the 15^th, but the 14^th was the day that the lawyers were involved and it was all going down. So, he made the decision actually twelve days before that.”

WWE has been largely building Raw around Cody Rhodes in the weeks since his arrival. A major feud is already set up, and Cody has stated that he intends to win the world title. That may or may not happen, but we do know that Cody Rhodes has been given the red carpet treatment since his return to the company.

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Transcription by Ringside News