Arn Anderson isn’t bitter about how his AEW run ended in 2024, but he’s also not pretending the whole thing had much of a path once Cody Rhodes left.
The WWE Hall of Famer came into AEW with a clear purpose. He was there as a veteran voice, a manager, and a steady presence around Cody while also helping give Brock Anderson a start on television. For a while, that worked. Arn had a role, Cody had momentum, and Brock got some valuable screen time. Then Cody left for WWE, and Arn says the direction pretty much left with him.
Speaking on the ARN Show podcast, Anderson was asked about the circumstances behind his AEW exit. He explained that AEW originally brought him in to be part of Cody’s presentation, but once Cody was gone, the angle had nowhere real to go.
“I’ve got to be honest with you. I was brought in to be Tully’s trainer, manager, manager, force of reason — whatever you want to call me. And when he left, he kind of took the angle with him.”
When the interviewer clarified that he meant Cody Rhodes, Arn confirmed it: “Cody.” Arn said his son Brock Anderson getting time with Cody helped early on, especially because it gave him a useful introduction in AEW. Still, Arn felt the freshness of that setup disappeared once Cody moved on.
“When he broke in, he got a nice rub being with Cody in some tags and all that, which was about as good as you could get at that particular time. It was new, it was fresh.”
AEW later tried putting Arn with Wardlow, but Anderson said that pairing never felt natural. After Wardlow’s name came up, Arn made it clear the idea felt random.
“But the angle with Cody — he took it with him, and it was just a matter of time because, you know, I did a couple of shows with… what’s the guy that was the big jacked-up guy? Wardlow. And, you know, it was just kind of out of left field, out of nowhere.”
Still, Anderson had no interest in taking shots at Tony Khan. He said Khan treated him well and did what he could with the situation.
“Tony treated us really well. I’ll never say anything [bad] about Tony Khan. He’s a class act, used me the best he could in the situation. Just one of them things. Timing is everything — it was just bad timing.”
Arn also praised how Khan treats AEW talent, saying the perks and respect backstage are not things a promoter is required to provide.
“You should turn around and treat your employer with the same respect that he has treated you with. Because he doesn’t have to put you in a first-class hotel, he doesn’t have to fly you first class, he doesn’t have to provide transportation back and forth to the airport, to the hotel. I mean, Tony Khan treats his talent first class.”
So Anderson’s AEW exit does not sound like some ugly breakup. It sounds like Cody Rhodes leaving changed the whole purpose of Arn’s role, and AEW never found another fit that made the same kind of sense. Now Arn is focused on helping Brock Anderson grow in wrestling, while making it clear he still respects Tony Khan and the way AEW treated him.
Do you think AEW should have found a better role for Arn Anderson after Cody Rhodes left, or was his exit inevitable? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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