10 Major AEW Stars Who Publicly Savaged The Company
1. Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes hasn't done "the thing" that wrestlers do.
He handled his exit from AEW with class, saying things to the effect of "it was just time to go," and while this is admirable, it was also boring stuff from the most fascinating player in the game. Where's the drama, the shooting, the soundbites? When a wrestler leaves a territory, the very least they can do is call a colleague worse than sh*t or validate your takes on the booking.
Ever the self-deprecating professional, sadly, Cody was more prone to burying the promotion when AEW still contracted his services. To that end, in an interview with Brandon Walker on the Barstool Wrasslin' podcast, Cody revealed that he regrets "almost everything" connected with his programme with Anthony Ogogo in the spring of 2021.
It began brightly in earnest, you-can-actually-let-things-play-out-here fashion. Any inkling that QT Marshall had abused his position vanished when Ogogo was presented as the real top villain of the Factory stable. Ogogo cut several great promos and cut a superb, menacing figure as a heel sh*thouse. Regrettably, Cody took this as an opportunity to restore race relations in the states, which invited widespread ridicule.
Cody buried his own role in building the feud, describing it as "tone-deaf".