Why Cody Rhodes Returning To WWE Is A Huge Mistake

Cody Rhodes may have first gained fame in WWE, but after a long tenure with AEW, going back to Vince McMahon’s company is a mistake. Rhodes is of course the son of legendary professional wrestler “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, and the younger brother of the also quite successful Dustin Rhodes, also known as Goldust in WWE. Rhodes made his WWE debut in 2007, at the young age of 22. By 2009, Rhodes had begun to establish himself, operating as part of the Legacy stable with fellow second-generation wrestlers Ted DiBiase Jr. and Randy Orton.

It quickly became clear that Rhodes was the star of his tag team with DiBiase, and by 2011, he was solidly entrenched in the mid-card scene, primarily competing for the Intercontinental Championship. By 2013, Rhodes had formed a popular team with his brother Goldust, and ended up with six tag team title reigns to his credit. While that’s a very respectable career already – possibly even Hall of Fame worthy – it was apparent that WWE didn’t seem to see Rhodes as a main event player, never putting much effort into trying to push him up the card, and eventually saddling him with the go-nowhere joke gimmick that was Stardust.

This eventually led Rhodes to leave WWE, spending the next few years establishing himself as a star in companies like Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling. Then, in 2019, Rhodes, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks joined forces with businessman Tony Khan to create All Elite Wrestling (AEW), which has quickly made itself known as a WWE alternative. Yet, in the last while, reports emerged that Rhodes had grown unhappy in AEW, leading him to leave there too. Now, all indications are that he’s left AEW to head back to WWE, but with no reason to believe McMahon’s company has changed how they do things since Rhodes has been gone, there’s reason to believe he’s made a colossal error in judgment.

While it’s unclear exactly why Rhodes decided to leave AEW, many have speculated that he and boss Tony Khan just weren’t on the same page when it came to his character and storylines. Yet, while Khan has the final say over AEW booking, Rhodes was not only a top-level wrestler for AEW, but also an executive vice president of the company. Rhodes may not have been happy with what Khan had in mind for him in AEW, but Khan is known to at least take his performers’ ideas under advisement, especially those like wrestling icon CM Punk. It’s extremely hard to imagine that Rhodes will have that kind of partner in McMahon, who – as the years have gone on – has become well known for micromanaging every last aspect of WWE programming.

Certain top WWE superstars, such as Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, are known to have heavy input into their characters and storylines, but that’s not a common practice in WWE. While many wrestling fans would argue that Rhodes is now a much bigger star than he was when he left WWE, whether McMahon sees him any differently is unknown. McMahon may view Rhodes as a worthy WWE signing, but that doesn’t mean he suddenly sees him as a main event world champion in waiting. Rumors suggest that the plan is to have Rhodes debut in a high-profile WrestleMania38 match with Seth Rollins, but after that, it’s possible that the notoriously hard to please McMahon will grow bored with Rhodes again, sending him down to the mid-card, and perhaps even demanding the return of Stardust. At the end of the day, Rhodes may end up wishing he’d stuck it out with AEW, instead of putting himself back under Mr. McMahon’s thumb.

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