Cody Rhodes always knew he’d be back in a WWE ring.
The American Nightmare began his wrestling journey with WWE back in 2006, but in the ten years that followed the star found himself increasingly dissatisfied. Feeling that he’d hit a ceiling and WWE booking wasn’t doing him any favours, Rhodes decided to leave in 2016 and headed out onto the independent scene to rediscover his spark.
This eventually led him to help in the creation of AEW in 2019 and by the time he left three years later he was one of the biggest names on the show. Rhodes’ first action back in WWE was a match at WrestleMania 38 against Seth Rollins which he won after being given a hero’s welcome.
Speaking in a new documentary looking at this period of his career titled American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes, the star admitted he knew he’d always be back in WWE.
Rhodes said that even while planned All In, before the creation of AEW, he was trying to make it look and feel like a WWE event.
“It’s like I knew I’d be back. When we did All In, I remember telling them I want to have signs backstage to tell you where the rooms are, and I want to have catering, and we’re going over all this. I wanted to replicate a WWE event, or at least the production side of it. Maybe had I looked further in at that point, I would have realized that I was starting on a path even then to getting back.”
Why Did Cody Rhodes Leave AEW?
Cody Rhodes left AEW in February 2022 surrounded by an incredible amount of speculation. There were claims he had fallen out with other EVPs The Young Bucks, while others suggested he left over money.
In reality, neither Rhodes nor AEW boss Tony Khan has ever discussed the true reasons behind his exit. Elsewhere in the documentary, Cody Rhodes said it was a “personal issue” that caused him to leave.
H/t to Uproxx