Cody Rhodes made the shocking transition from AEW back to WWE but many feel he shot himself in the foot due to a booking decision prior to the move.
Cody had served as an EVP for AEW along with Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. The group was adamant about not wanting to take away the spotlight from other talent just because they had a position of power.
Rhodes took things a step further, booking himself in an AEW World Heavyweight Title match against Chris Jericho with a stipulation that had a big consequence.
If he lost the match, which he did, then he was not allowed to ever compete for AEW’s biggest prize again.
A Costly Stipulation
During an edition of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Matt expressed his belief that Cody ended up unintentionally limiting what he could do in AEW from a storyline perspective (h/t Wrestling Inc).
“I don’t know if that was him just trying to be unselfish because of the position he was in as an EVP where he was part of management. I do agree, he’s such a big player in pro wrestling and you don’t want to take yourself off the table like that because it really limits what you can do from storytelling.”
Matt also said an opportunity was there for Cody to add to his family legacy before deciding to take the loss with that stipulation in place.
“Especially with the backstory of his dad never winning the title and that’s what he set as his goal, his destiny to win the title his dad never did,” Hardy said. “That’s a great story too.”
Rhodes has since admitted that this may have not been his brightest idea. He said he didn’t want to live and die by the TNT Championship in AEW, so he returned to WWE where he can become a world champion for the big kahuna.
