Kenny Omega explains how AEW stars reacted to Cody Rhodes departure

AEW star Kenny Omega has explained how the locker room reacted to the news that Cody Rhodes has decided to part ways with the company.

With Elimination Chamber and The Undertaker’s induction into the Hall of Fame announced, it’s been a massive week for the WWE. But if things weren’t already going well enough, rumours are rife that they might be resigning one of their former stars.

Rhodes began his journey in WWE in 2006 and remained in the promotion for a decade before his departure.

He won the Intercontinental Championship twice and held the Tag Team Championship on six separate occasions. However, despite his ten-year stretch in the WWE, he never quite reached the heights his potential suggested he could. But that all changed when he signed for AEW.

He became a three-time AEW TNT Champion and a PPV star. Rhodes was a founding member of the company, and was named one of the inaugural Executive Vice Presidents.

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The decision to leave the promotion surprised many wrestling fans when the news was announced earlier this week. And one of AEW’s top stars has revealed how the locker room reacted to the information.

Read: Fans hype up potential Cody Rhodes WWE return after AEW departure

Kenny Omega reacts to Cody Rhodes departure

Kenny Omega has been an instrumental part of the company’s rise up the ranks. He is a current Executive Vice Producer for the promotion, alongside the tag team The Young Bucks.

The former AEW Champion, who incorporates all his favourite video game moves into his wrestling repertoire, has spoken out in the aftermath of Rhodes’ decision.

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On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Omega admitted that the exit of his former business associate came as a surprise to the entire roster.

He explained: “Everyone was shocked. Wrestling is – we all know when our deals are up, especially the EVPs like we know. Especially in the case of The Bucks, they know when their options kick in.

“For myself, I don’t have a deal like that. I’m up next year, just straight up done. So I’d have to re-sign a new one. There’s no option.”

“We knew Cody much like The Bucks. There was that time. And when we would hear that there’s possibly some difficulty with the renegotiation or whatever. It was almost like – you never think it’s going to go in that direction where the talent is going to opt for leaving.”

“Especially since when this thing started, I would say the most passionate person about our revolution, the most passionate person about creating an ‘us versus them’ mentality, was Cody. So it was strange for him to choose to just up and walk away.”

Kenny Omega on Cody Rhodes’s vision for AEW

Kenny Omega Cody Rhodes
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Omega also touched upon how the vision of Rhodes may have differed from other executives within AEW.

He explained: “I guess we never really sat down together and said, ‘Ok, we have this opportunity to now change wrestling, how do you see it? How do you see it? How do we make this work?’

“And maybe, in the end, we had The Bucks and their vision, we had my vision, and we had Cody’s vision. All of our visions were different from one another. I would say mine was more similar to what The Bucks had envisioned, and Cody’s was out there. It was much different.”

Despite his popularity in AEW, perhaps this is the right move. Like most wrestlers, he dreams of winning a world title in the WWE. Therefore, a reunion with Vince McMahon could be mutually beneficial. Rhodes would get another shot, and the world’s premier promotion gets back a superstar who has arguably become a much bigger name since the last time he set foot in one of their rings.

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