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Cody Rhodes' story with WWE came full circle when he shockingly returned on night one of WrestleMania 38. Initially leaving the company on bad terms, the 36-year-old returned to his own set-up almost six years later.
Much to everyone's surprise, Cody Rhodes showed up in his American Nightmare persona with the "Kingdom" theme, which he used in AEW. He defeated WWE stalwart Seth "Freakin" Rollins at The Show of Shows.
One of the biggest questions left hanging after Rhodes' comeback was what made him quit AEW, a promotion he envisioned and helped build alongside Tony Khan and other EVPs from the ground up.
While the former TNT Champion asserted that leaving AEW for WWE was the easiest decision he has ever made, fans are still wondering what went down between Mr. Khan and Rhodes.
This also leads us to the subject of this article: What did Cody Rhodes say about his relationship with Tony Khan after leaving AEW?
Speaking with Ariel Helwani on BT Sports, the former EVP affirmed that he chose to remain silent on his personal matters with Tony Khan and the events that led to his departure.
“Unfortunately I can’t comment on the personal matter itself but it really just came down, Tony Khan who I have genuine respect for and I hope history is really kind too because he bank rolled the entire grassroots movement that was starting in ROH and then All In happened and of course AEW happened and then he was able to buy that footage back, I felt like we were drifting apart,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes also explained that there were no ill-intentions, he and Khan were just drifting apart.
“Had I asked him for this, that was a story that I saw, I asked him for something and I didn’t get it. Had I asked him, he’s the type of man that he would’ve given it to me. It just genuinely felt that it was time, can’t comment on the personal nature of it but there was nothing nefarious or scandalous, we just couldn’t’ agree. [h/t- Wrestling Inc]
Much like Tony Khan, Cody Rhodes also didn't go into detail to explain the events that prompted the two men to part ways. However, there were issues that the two men couldn't get past.
The American Nightmare also noted that he still holds immense respect for his former boss despite what happened between them.
Cody Rhodes says he's on a quest in WWE
On RAW after WrestleMania, Rhodes returned to flagship programming for the first time in nearly six years.
The American Nightmare cut an emotional promo in which he vowed to fulfill his prophecy of winning the WWE World Championship for his late father, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.
With Roman Reigns currently holding both WWE and Universal Championships, it will be interesting to see how Rhodes claws his way into title contention.
What do you make of Cody Rhodes' statement? Sound off in the comments section below.
