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#2. Positive: Cody Rhodes could rebuild his WWE legacy and prove that he is a box-office draw
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AEW is where Cody Rhodes truly became a star. But back in 2016 when he left WWE, he was merely viewed as a mid-carder performing the doomed Stardust gimmick.
Cody has unfinished business in WWE and would want to rectify the mistakes that were made earlier in his career. Now that he has built a name for himself outside the company, perhaps he would be booked better this time around. Drew McIntyre is one such name who has returned as a bigger star than when he left. Cody could follow in his footsteps and become a big player in the WWE main event scene as well.
#2. Negative: Exposes the in-fighting amongst AEW EVPs
There have been rumors of heat between some of the Executive Vice Presidents in AEW (Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega) for over a year now. It’s gotten to the point where it was suggested that the EVPs are no longer on speaking terms.
Wrestling journalist Jason Powell while speaking with Wade Keller, said that there were issues among the executives. Cody, however, tried to shut down those rumors last year during a media scrum to promote Double or Nothing in 2021:
"I think people need to cling to something and as sexy as that story is, I talk to Matt and Nick every day, I talk to Kenny very often. I support their projects fully and they’ve been supportive of all my projects. We would not be able to put this show on the air.
Tony [Khan] is the man and he’s the boss, but we wouldn’t be able to put the show on the air if the four of us were not functioning as one team. Unfortunately, it’s not very sexy to say, but there is no truth to that…we will remain one team.” said Jason.
Cody Rhodes hasn't appeared with The Elite and has been more focused on promoting his own American Nightmare faction and reality television shows. It's clear that a rift has appeared between the founding members of the company. Cody's departure seems to confirm that. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the EVPs react to the news or if they will be putting out a statement after this.
