Cody Rhodes Felt "Disrespected" In AEW, Reveals "Bad Blood" After Exit (WWE News)
WWE's Cody Rhodes finally opens up on his AEW exit.
While promoting SummerSlam this coming weekend, WWE's Cody Rhodes has touched upon his AEW exit.
Now, Rhodes has largely skewed away from that topic when it's come up in the time since he departed AEW back in early 2022, but an appearance on The Bill Simmons Podcast sees Cody say how "disrespected" he felt in AEW.
The full interview is due to drop later today, but The Ringer - Simmons' website - has put out an extremely juicy teaser that appears to put several different clips together, starting with one of Cody saying, "There’s clearly bad blood, but there’s also clearly respect and love."
At one point, the American Nightmare says:
"If I felt disrespected ever at WWE, that's one thing. That's a company that... that's the Yankees, that's the flagship of it all. If I ever felt there that 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."
On his wife Brandi encouraging him to leave AEW, Rhodes added:
"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.'"
Mentioning how the best form of revenge is success, the clip wraps up with Cody saying:
"I don't believe in the cold-hearted, backstabby type of revenge. The greatest revenge on Earth is success. And, I felt like we were sitting on something wonderful, something great, a huge... potentially, with what I was doing with the American Nightmare as a bad guy, a good guy, something in between, we're sitting on something magic. And if I'm not going to do it in the house I literally, with Matt, Nick, and Kenny, built, then, buddy, I'm going elsewhere."
“There’s clearly bad blood, but there’s also clearly respect and love.”
AdvertisementCody Rhodes discusses what led to his departure from AEW. pic.twitter.com/U8RYZ90rHD
— The Ringer (@ringer) July 31, 2025
It'll be interesting to see how the full interview plays out when it comes to AEW, but, as mentioned, Cody Rhodes has largely kept quiet on his AEW exit and his relationship with Tony Khan and the company's EVPs in the years since his departure.
Since returning to WWE in 2022, Cody has gone on to become the WWE Champion, win back-to-back Royal Rumbles, and has headlined three consecutive WrestleManias, with him these days positioned as the poster boy of the current WWE era.
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