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Backstage news regarding Cody Rhodes leaving AEW

Aaron Rift

As previously noted, Cody Rhodes’ AEW departure was officially announced on Tuesday morning after months of speculation about his future.

According to TMZ.com, sources with AEW noted that there was a fallout between Cody and AEW President Tony Khan recently “as Khan’s visibility within the company grew.” Fightful Select also reported the following…

“About 15 minutes before Cody’s announcement, word had also spread to AEW talent that he was leaving the company. Cody Rhodes and Brandi haven’t been quite as connected to the locker room in recent years as when AEW started, with word emerging that Cody had become distant from other EVPs.”

Back in May of 2021, rumblings started about there possibly between legitimate backstage tension between AEW Executive Vice Presidents.

Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com noted the following regarding Cody and Brandi leaving…

“The Cody/Brandi split with AEW happened yesterday. The two sides didn’t come to terms on a new deal after six weeks. There is a lot more to read into this and our show last night we talked about the different issues. But he could legally be on WWE TV at any time.”

Meltzer added that lawyers were involved yesterday as the two sides agreed to part ways. The belief is that AEW is “sticking to a budget” when it comes to talent negotations.