Cody Rhodes: After ‘schism’ with AEW, I’m grateful to be ‘with the biggest game in town’

Following Wednesday’s social media tease of Cody Rhodes talking about why he left AEW that went viral on social media, the full interview on The Bill Simmons Podcast dropped late Thursday night with more of Rhodes opening up.

Simmons asked Rhodes if he felt AEW had a “shelf life” and if he thought at one point he would be there forever. Rhodes admitted it’s hard to put himself in that mental spot again, but then used a Michael Hayes quote about always leaving the territory at your hottest.

“I started to get a sense that all wrestling needs change. Guys are going to go from company to company. You have to keep it fresh. Guys are going to go down for a minute. I just got the sense that it might be time for me to move into something else. I didn’t know what that was. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, that’d be crazy to be part of the Royal Rumble. To come home.’ Because, you know, I made another home. I got kids at this home, basically, but to show everybody,” he said.

He said his first meeting with Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard was mainly to tell them thanks and to apologize for how he initially left WWE, not expecting to return. Then, it turned into a much larger conversation that saw him make his return.

Later, Rhodes gave the full quote from the aforementioned social media clip with Simmons’ question being if Rhodes felt he couldn’t elevate anymore in AEW and if he worried he would be in the same place in 2024 that he was in 2022.

Rhodes admitted that might be part of it and then said he started thinking about writing a book recently and was thinking about how he would talk about his time in AEW. He said there’s “clearly bad blood, but there’s also clearly respect and love.”

He said that the way he sees it, if he was ever disrespected at WWE, “that’s one thing,” equating the company to the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball — an established brand where he’s a number on a spreadsheet.

“But feeling disrespected at something I built with my friends…that we built, feeling disrespected there…I wouldn’t stand for it,” he said. “I think with Brandi and I both…I’m so blessed to have her. It was one of those where it was like, ‘F*ck it.’ I did way more here than you think and you’re going to find out the moment I’m out the door.”

Rhodes continued.

“I don’t believe in the cold-hearted back-stabby type of revenge. The greatest revenge on Earth is success. And, I felt like we were sitting on something wonderful, something great, a huge potentially…with what I was doing with the American Nightmare as a bad guy, as a good guy, something in between. We’re sitting on something magic and if I’m not doing to do it in the house I literally with Matt (Jackson), Kenny (Omega) and Nick (Jackson) built? Then, buddy, I’m going elsewhere.”

“Every day, I’m so blessed that Bruce Prichard, Nick, Triple H, and Vince got me back. I get to live it out now,” said Rhodes in a quote not initially played in the clip.

Simmons talked about an upcoming sports documentary and made a comparison between the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and the infamous issues between owner Jerry Jones and former coach Jimmy Johnson that resulted in three Super Bowls in the 1990s but ended badly.

Without saying the name “Tony Khan,” Rhodes said it was a “probably similar” situation but that he doesn’t look at the situation “with any negativity.”

“I got to be part of WWE again. I got to be part of WWE. We’re talking about (Steve) Austin and (Hulk) Hogan — two of the greatest to ever lace their boots and draw people into the arenas — and every one of those records have been broken. I got to be in the matches that broke those records. I got to stand across from Roman Reigns at (WrestleMania) 39. I got to do it again,” he said, “I got the quarterback spot at a company where I was last in the (NFL) combine. I’m very grateful.”

He continued, “That’s why I have trouble articulating it and why I want to write this book. I’m very grateful because, hey, ok, this schism happened, but the outcome is I got to be with the biggest game in town. Not only did I get this spot, I got to show them that I could do it.”

Simmons said he didn’t want to ask Rhodes about the McMahon legal issues, joking that he didn’t want to put him in the position to talk about it and that it would likely turn into a “sh*tty answer.”