Cody Rhodes Looks Back at AEW Exit: "A Wound More Painful Than People Realize."

While he once considered himself a lifer there, Cody Rhodes left AEW in 2022. Rhodes himself has attributed his exit to an undisclosed "personal issue," but the decision to leave seemingly stems from months of tensions. After live crowds returned in May 2021, Rhodes was once again positioned and viewed as a conquering hero within AEW. Polarizing feuds with Anthony Ogogo and Malakai Black turned some of that good will on its head, and by Fall 2021 Rhodes was on the receiving end of heavy boos from the AEW audience. Rhodes would put himself through hell and back to regain the fans' favor, but it was never enough. He left for WWE in April 2022 and has been cherished by that fanbase, becoming the most universally-beloved babyface that WWE has seen in decades.

Cody Rhodes Still Laments Over AEW Exit

The WWE Champion still has American nightmares about how his AEW run ended.

"It was certainly a wound that is more gaping and painful than people realize," Cody Rhodes told Cheap Heat . "Because now they look at the situation, 'Oh man, you're on top of the world, you have everything.' They don't understand that I really gave everything I could. I did."

Rhodes dedicated his life to the launch and subsequent success of AEW. It was his financial gamble on ALL IN (2018) that sparked the wrestling revolution that would materialize into those three letters. He even put his in-ring career on the back burner in order to dedicate more attention to his position as AEW Executive Vice President.

"I would never root against them, in any case. That's not always easy because random things said about you at press conferences," Rhodes said, alluding to AEW Women's Champion Toni Storm's dig at his WWE WrestleMania 40 celebration during the AEW Dynasty post-show presser. "That's a big no no, you should never say me or my wife's name. Tony [Khan] should have told you that. I'll never root against them. I really won't."

Even with AEW in his rear view, Rhodes has emphasized that his relationship with the Young Bucks, the current AEW Executive Vice Presidents that Rhodes worked alongside upon AEW's launch, is stronger than ever . He also still maintains his friendships with AEW talent like Ricky Starks and QT Marshall, both of which were in attendance for WWE WrestleMania 40 .