Cody Rhodes recently opened up about his time at AEW, and revealed he felt disrespected at times with the company.
Speaking to The Ringer in a recent interview, Rhodes opened up about his time with AEW, and the bad blood the two have. Rhodes noted that feeling disrespected in WWE was something he could take. However, feeling disrespected at AEW — which he helped popularize — was something he couldn’t.
“There’s clearly bad blood,” said Rhodes. “But there’s also clearly respect and love. In the end, the way I see it is, if I felt disrespected ever at WWE, that’s one thing. That’s a company that was built…that’s the Yankees. That’s the flagship of it all. If I ever felt [disrespected] there, I was a number on a sheet, maybe, but feeling disrespected at something I built with my friends. That we built. Feeling disrespected there, I wouldn’t stand for it.”
Rhodes went on to note that, when he left AEW, he felt driven to prove to the fans and company what he could do. Specifically, he remembered thinking that AEW would “find out” what he could do once he made it to another promotion.
“Brandi and I both, I’m so blessed to have her. It was one of those where it was, f–k it. ‘I did way more here than you think, and you’re going to find out the moment I’m out the door,’” Rhodes said. “I don’t believe in the cold-hearted back-stabbing type of revenge. The greatest revenge on Earth is success. I felt like we were sitting on something wonderful. Something great. A huge, potentially, what I was doing with the American Nightmare, as a bad guy, as a good guy, something in between. We’re sitting on some magic. If I’m not going to do it in the house that I literally, with Matt, Nick, and Kenny built, then buddy, I’m going elsewhere.”
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