Why Cody Rhodes Leaving Is Best For AEW

2. It Can Only Create Further Competition

Tony Khan Cody Rhodes
AEW

If Cody Rhodes does indeed end up returning to WWE, one way to look at it is that that this would only be a good thing for AEW in regards to competition. As the saying goes, a rising tide raises all ships.

For the wrestling business, competition is key. We all saw how monotonous the industry could get when WWE served as a monopoly for the best part of 20 years following the downfall of WCW. Since AEW arrived on the scene to provide a genuine mainstream, widely-accessible alternative to Vince McMahon's promotion, the industry as a whole has become a much healthier place.

WWE may publicly claim that they don't view AEW as competition, but they absolutely do. If they didn't, they wouldn't reportedly be going so hard with so much money to lure such a high profile AEW name into their clutches in order to show the world that WWE is still the big dance.

If WWE signs Cody and uses him correctly - of course, always a big ask in WWE - that should bring something fresh and intriguing to their product, and in turn if gives further impetus to Tony Khan and AEW to continue to put out their own strong product.

Would Khan want to put out as best a product as possible if Cody didn't sign with WWE? Absolutely, but this adds one further wrinkle to wanting to better your competitors.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.