Tony Khan Believes Cody Rhodes’ AEW Departure Affected Multiple Departments

Tony Khan has built AEW as the direct competitor to wrestling’s biggest giant, WWE with the influx of many top-tier stars from all over the world. One of them was Cody Rhodes, known for being founding father of the promotion and now Khan has spoken about his departure from the company.

Cody Rhodes, along with The Elite, was among the driving forces for the formation of AEW, while also serving as on-screen performers featured in top programs on Dynamite and Rampage, emerging to become a top star in the company and also winning the AEW TNT championship on three different occasions.

A shocking turn of events saw The American Nightmare leave All Elite Wrestling, after announcing his departure on February 15th, 2022. AEW President Tony Khan recently discussed Rhodes’ exit from his company and how it affected multiple departments during an interview with Grapsody.

“It was, certainly, whenever you lose a star the caliber of Cody Rhodes, it’s going to have a major impact on your company and affect a number of different departments and number of different things in terms of the presentation and the backstage. Personally, I really like Cody and I know Cody really well and he was so involved in so many different facets with the start of AEW and what we were. When he left, that was a major challenge. Going into Revolution, we had so many great stories and I think it helped us and helped keep us strong that people were so invested in what was happening in AEW at the time.”

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Cody Rhodes’s exit from AEW led to him returning to WWE at WrestleMania 38 as the mystery opponent of Seth Rollins. The American Nightmare is currently out of action due to a torn pectoral muscle injury and is expected to make his grand comeback at the WWE Royal Rumble event in 2023.

Do you think Cody Rhodes can return to AEW in the future for a second stint? Sound off in the comments!