A bombshell in the professional wrestling world Tuesday morning: Cody and Brandi Rhodes are leaving All Elite Wrestling.
In a statement released on Twitter, AEW CEO Tony Khan noted how the Rhodes were “integral to the launch of All Elite Wrestling,” and wished them the best with “immense appreciation and respect.”
At roughly the same time, Cody Rhodes posted the following confirmation statement on his Twitter, still labeled “AEW COMMUNITY OUTREACH” as the tag:
But an even bigger bombshell, perhaps, came right on the heels of those statements, courtesy of combat sports writer Ariel Helwani: Cody, at least, may be negotiating to return to WWE:
Cody, the son of the legendary “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, performed for WWE from 2006-16 and won eight different championships before leaving in 2016 due to creative frustration. He worked the independent circuit and wrestled in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling from shortly after his WWE departure until early 2019, when he and three other NJPW talents – Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, Nick & Matt Jackson – officially teamed with Khan to launch AEW, all four acting as in-ring talent as well as Executive Vice Presidents for the company.
Brandi, who was also known as Eden Stiles during her WWE tenure from 2011-16, married Cody in 2013, and the pair welcomed a baby girl in June 2021. Brandi left WWE shortly after Cody in 2016 and joined AEW as the Chief Brand Officer in 2019, also appearing as an on-screen character and in-ring talent.
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Cody had reportedly signed a five-year deal with AEW when the circuit was conceived in 2019, but last month, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported that Cody, then AEW’s TNT Champion, was “a free agent working without a contract.”
In addition, Mike Coppinger of ESPN reported that the Rhodes’ do not have a no-compete clause, which is fairly standard in the industry, meaning they could theoretically show up to work for a competitor as early as Wednesday.
Dustin Rhodes, Cody’s half-brother, remains part of the AEW roster, and Tweeted the following after Cody and Brandi’s departure was announced:
Dustin also Tweeted that he is not leaving AEW, saying "I love it here."
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