Real reason behind Cody Rhodes' AEW departure speculated by WWE veteran

WWE veteran Mark Henry speculated why Cody Rhodes left All Elite Wrestling. He thinks it had to do with how Tony Khan ran his promotion.

Cody Rhodes wrestled in WWE for a decade before leaving the company in 2016. He toured the Indies for a few years and later became part of AEW in 2018. He worked under Tony Khan for four years, left in 2022, and eventually returned to WWE.

Speaking on a recent edition of the Busted Open podcast, The World's Strongest Man Mark Henry commented that he thinks Cody Rhodes left AEW not because he wanted to complete his story in WWE but because he felt his efforts were not reciprocated in Khan's company.

Henry said:

"You think Cody just left because he wanted to 'finish the story' in WWE? Cody left because ... [he thought] talking to this wall right here is not helping me. And I'm not bashing nobody. I'm just saying what was real. You have to be able to give and take." (H/T WrestlingInc)

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Bully Ray compared CM Punk's AEW exit with Cody Rhodes' departure

In the same interview, Bully Ray agreed with Mark Henry and said CM Punk felt the same way as Cody Rhodes. That is why he also left AEW in 2023. The only difference was that he handled his situation differently than The American Nightmare did.

Bully stated, "When you're in WWE, you see how it's supposed to work the right way. You get to get a look at the machine work from inside the machine. When you get to work someplace else you realize, 'Wow, this does not run the same as the other machine. What suggestions can I give this place to help it run better,' and sometimes it just falls on deaf ears."

Bully added that both of the former AEW stars realized things ran poorly behind the scenes in the Jacksonville-based company and even tried to change it. But their endeavors were in vain. Therefore, they decided to leave the company for good.