AEW never recovered from major Cody Rhodes blow; WWE Hall of Famer suggest Tony Khan do one thing Vince McMahon did

A WWE Hall of Famer recently claimed that AEW is still dealing with the Cody Rhodes blow after all these years. The veteran also suggested Tony Khan should learn one thing from Vince McMahon.

The current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes left All Elite Wrestling back in 2022 after being one of the founding members as well as an EVP of the promotion. Although it's been three years already, fans still miss The American Nightmare's presence in AEW both on and off the screen. The WWE Hall of Famer, Bully Ray also feels the same.

Speaking on the Busted Open Radio, Bully Ray (fka Bubba Ray Dudley) claimed that Cody leaving AEW was a major blow to the company which started the downward trend:

"Cody [Rhodes] leaving AEW was a major, major blow to that company. Cody leaving AEW is what started the downward trend. Go back and look at any number, any metric, any talk on social media. Cody is the first crack in the wall." [H/T: WrestlingINC]

Furthermore, Bully Ray also believes that Tony Khan took it personally when Rhodes left AEW as he was an important figure in the company. Bully Ray suggested that Khan should learn to not take things personally just like Vince McMahon, saying Vince has programmed himself to not take things personally.

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Cody Rhodes' WrestleMania 41 challenger will be decided at Elimination Chamber

Following his 2025 men's Royal Rumble match win, Jey Uso decided to challenge the World Heavyweight Champion Gunther at WrestleMania 41. Therefore, the winner of the Men's Elimination Chamber match at the upcoming PLE in Canada would go on to challenge Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

The Chamber match is set with John Cena, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Logan Paul, and Damian Priest as the six participants. It remains to be seen who challenges Cody for the title at WrestleMania 41.