Cody Rhodes Left AEW Two Years Ago Today: Reflecting on The American Nightmare's Industry-Shifting WWE Return

All Elite Wrestling without Cody Rhodes seemed unfathomable just two years ago. When Tony Khan launched AEW in 2019, he did so with the momentum that Rhodes himself built for the greater wrestling industry. Rhodes's role within AEW was not just spiritual either, as himself, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks were named AEW Executive Vice Presidents upon the company's inception. Yet at some point in its early years, Rhodes and AEW grew apart. When that distance became too great and an undisclosed "personal issue" materialized, Rhodes exited AEW altogether in favor of returning to WWE, which he did so at WWE WrestleMania 38.

While AEW and Rhodes have both enjoyed success without one another in the two years since, the question still remains: where did it all go wrong?

Spearheading The Revolution

Back in 2017, Rhodes took a bet that would change the wrestling industry. When wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer dismissed the idea of Rhodes's employer at the time, Ring of Honor, selling out a 10,000-seat arena, Rhodes took it upon himself and friends the Young Bucks to prove him wrong.

Flash forward to September 2018, and the inaugural ALL IN was born. Selling 11,263 tickets in Chicago's Sears Centre Arena, ALL IN represented the first tangible evidence that there was hunger for an alternative. After the one-off pay-per-view concluded, Rhodes teased to the live audience that this band of disruptors would go "double or nothing" down the line.

That tease laid the foundation for All Elite Wrestling. Come January 2019, AEW was born, with Rhodes positioned as one of the new company's centerpieces, both from an in-ring and behind-the-scenes perspective. Later that fall, AEW launched its weekly television series, AEW Dynamite, which featured Rhodes in its very first match when he battled Sammy Guevara in singles action.

Light During Darkness

Just five months into AEW's televised run, the world shut down. The COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, with social distance mandates bringing an end to live events as we knew them. Wrestling promotions still carried on but were forced to run their shows in front of empty arenas. AEW made its home in Jacksonville's Daily's Place and kicked off its first pandemic broadcast with a powerful promo from Rhodes.

Rhodes continued to lead by example throughout these trying times. He went on to become the inaugural AEW TNT Champion and hosted weekly open challenge title defenses, introducing future AEW stars like Ricky Starks and Eddie Kingston in the process. It was during this run that Rhodes's critically-acclaimed feud with the late Brodie Lee went down. After Lee passed, Rhodes played a pivotal role in the highly-praised AEW Dynamite tribute show dedicated to The Exalted One's memory.

"I wanna stay an Executive Vice President of All Elite Wrestling, and I've told Tony [Khan] this, until I die," Rhodes said in a November 2020 interview. "This is the end of my road. I can't necessarily go back, the others can change, but I really can't."

The Boos Build Up

Fans would return to AEW events in May 2021, and they brought a newfound attitude towards Rhodes with them. Things began smoothly, with Rhodes getting a thunderous ovation from Daily's Place upon his AEW Double or Nothing 2021 match against Anthony Ogogo, despite that being a divisive feud.  Behind the scenes, it was around this time that rumors started to bubble about Rhodes and The Elite (Omega and the Bucks) having grown apart.

Boos began to creep in upon Rhodes's subsequent program when he stood opposite the debuting Malakai Black. Fresh off his WWE release, Black came into AEW with all the momentum in the world, and his new employer capitalized on it. Black completely squashed Rhodes in their first encounter, beating him clean in four minutes with just a single foot on Rhodes's chest for the 1-2-3 pinfall.

The two would square off again one month later at the first AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. This time, Rhodes was met with a largely negative reaction, as the New York City crowd booed the American Nightmare on his way to the ring.

Refusing Heel Turn

Despite the response, Rhodes stood firmly in his position as a babyface. The boos continued to increase week after week, leading to Rhodes and his Nightmare Family stablemates acknowledging the reception. 

All this made Rhodes do was work harder to win the fans back over, including putting himself through a flaming table. No matter what Rhodes did, AEW audiences were firm in their desire to see Rhodes turn heel. He would eventually rekindle his rivalry with Sammy Guevara, who was a babyface at the time, and dethroned him of the AEW TNT Championship in the process. 

While taking a face's title could be seen as a heel move, Rhodes remained working a good guy style and continued cutting protagonist promos. He would show shades of villainy in what became his final oratory exhibition in AEW, but even so, all of his comments were backed with action.

Working Without a Contract

As Rhodes was in the midst of his final AEW TNT Championship run, reports surfaced that he had technically been working without a contract. Rhodes's original AEW deal expired at the end of 2021, meaning he was on a handshake deal for the entirety of January 2022.

"As of now, my future is with AEW," Rhodes said in an interview around that time. "AEW would be very strange without the core members of the revolution. We all still talk. We all have this admiration for each other. I can't see myself anywhere else, and I'm very optimistic about what the future holds."

While out of the ordinary, this news was brushed off by many in the wrestling world. As evident by Rhodes's aforementioned "until I die" comments, it was assumed that the two sides were just working out logistics and had happened to go past the midnight hour.

AEW Announces Rhodes's Depature

February 15th, 2022: Cody Rhodes leaves AEW. Rhodes and AEW put out statements announcing that the two would be going their separate ways. In a heartfelt message, Rhodes thanked AEW President Tony Khan as well as his Elite stablemates and various other foundational pieces that made up AEW.

pic.twitter.com/iyKVg1nVpm

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) February 15, 2022

"I can't tell you why I left AEW," Rhodes said in his American Nightmare documentary. "I can't, and I won't. But I can tell you the reasons that were said that didn't actually matter. I didn't leave AEW because of money, and I didn't leave AEW because of other talents. I left AEW because of a personal issue – that's it."

WWE Return

Less than two months later, Rhodes was back in WWE. He was revealed to be Seth Rollins's mystery opponent at WWE WrestleMania 38, arriving in front of a Dallas crowd that gave him the loudest cheers of his entire career.

The cheers have roared (whoa-ed?) on ever since. Rhodes popularity within WWE surged, and in less than two months he was considered to be the company's top babyface. Seven months on the shelf with a torn pectoral muscle didn't slow down that momentum one bit either, as he would return at WWE Royal Rumble 2023 and win the titular battle royal.

While unsuccessful in his WWE WrestleMania 39 title match against Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, Rhodes went on to have a career year in 2023. He bested Brock Lesnar in a multi-month feud. He won his first piece of WWE gold since 2013. He competed in his first War Games Match.

Just one month into 2024, Rhodes is the most popular he has ever been. He won the Royal Rumble Match again, becoming the first WWE star to go back-to-back in over 20 years, and is set to headline WWE WrestleMania 40 in a rematch against Reigns.

That "personal issue" remains under wraps, and it's unknown if Rhodes and AEW could have ever grown to resolve it. That said, there was once a time that Rhodes believed he would spend the rest of his life in and around an All Elite ring. Considering the success he has brought to its competition and the backstage struggles AEW has faced in his absence, it's not hyperbole to say that Rhodes departure continues to be one of the biggest paradigm shifts the professional wrestling industry has ever seen.