Cody Rhodes shocked the WWE Universe when he made his comeback to the company at WrestleMania 38. Rhodes faced Seth Rollins in a highly-acclaimed match which the “American Nightmare” won.
AEW’s owner, CEO, and General Manager Tony Khan revealed in a recent conversation with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi that he was not surprised to see the former 3-time AEW TNT champion return to WWE.
“He wasn’t going to be here and based on the conversations we were having — he never outright told me — but it was obvious that was what was happening,” Khan said.
Khan mentioned that he appreciates the effort that Cody and his wife Brandi Rhodes, put in for the company. He also noted that they parted on good terms and wished Cody the best for his future. However, he was a bit reluctant to discuss how he felt after seeing Cody back in a WWE ring.
“Not anything I want to comment on,” Khan said. “Like I’ve said, I appreciate the things Cody and his wife, Brandi Rhodes, did in AEW and I saw Cody show up in WWE. Like I said before, he showed up there – it’s all still true: I still like him and wish him the best. I’m appreciative of the stuff he did in AEW. We spent hundreds and hundreds of hours together and know each other very well. I think we parted on very good terms.”
The 39-year-old Tony Khan has always strived to put up great shows and the acquisition of some of the biggest names in the pro wrestling world like Jeff Hardy and William Regal has only increased AEW’s popularity.
There have been many popular WWE superstars who have moved to AEW. However, Cody Rhodes is the first big star to complete the full circle. After requesting a release from WWE a few years back, upset with how he was being booked, Cody joined AEW and was a Vice-President of the promotion. Khan believes that the switches from WWE to AEW and vice-versa will be a common feature in the days to come.
“It’s not anything unusual to see stars coming from other promotions, including WWE into AEW,” Khan said. “I think it is now a little different to see a star from AEW go onto WWE television. I think as the years go by — we’re a young promotion — it was bound to happen sooner or later. And now it has.”
Khan reckons that the free-agent movement will be beneficial for wrestlers.
“We have a lot of great wrestlers here,” Khan explained. “I expect there probably will be, down the road, interest in some of them because we’re putting on such strong shows. Think there’s bound to be free-agent movement on both sides of the competition. I think it’s great for the wrestlers.”
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