“This is personal between me and him” – Tony Khan on not using Cody Rhodes’ AEW contract option

By Adam D Anglo On Mar 3, 2022

Tony Khan doesn’t want to keep anyone in AEW who doesn’t want to be there, which includes former EVP Cody Rhodes.

During today’s AEW Revolution media call, Tony Khan was asked why he didn’t choose to exercise the option in Cody Rhodes’ contract as he did with The Young Bucks. Khan said it was because he tried to reach a longer agreement with Cody than the option allowed.

“It’s a great question, and there have been a lot of great questions today,” Tony Khan began. “I know I say that a lot, but I honestly mean it if I didn’t think it was a good one, I wouldn’t say it. And that is a very fair question to ask. I don’t want to get too deep into it because a lot of this is personal between me and him. But I tried to reach a longer agreement with him beyond what we had for the option years.”

“If someone doesn’t want to stay, you can’t do anything. I would always have positive things to say about him.”-@TonyKhan about @CodyRhodes‘ contract extension. #AEW #AEWRevolution #AEWDynamite

Tony Khan has a lot of respect for Cody Rhodes

Tony Khan admitted at one point he thought things were going to get done, but in the end, the two sides couldn’t settle on a new deal.

“And it sounded like at one point I think that we were going to honestly and when we couldn’t settle on it, the last thing I want to do is keep somebody here that isn’t going to want to be here,” Tony Khan continued. “So it didn’t look like we were going to get a longer deal done, and I would have loved to have done it. I have a lot of respect for him, but when we didn’t come to terms on that, it made it pretty clear where we were going to end up on things, and that being said, I have said nothing but respectful stuff about Cody, and I’ll continue to.”

It’s unknown what’s next for Rhodes, but online reports continue to suggest he might be on his way back to WWE.

Tony Khan tells Jason Powell he tried to reach a longer agreement beyond the option years with Cody Rhodes. At one point it seemed like it was going to happen, but when they didn’t come to terms on that, it became clear Cody was leaving AEW

What do you make of Tony Khan’s comments? Are you disappointed that Cody Rhodes has departed All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

Thanks to WrestleZone for the transcription of this media call.

Why does Cody Rhodes get booed? A WWE Hall of Famer offers his take here.

Edited by Brandon Nell

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