Warner Bros Discovery Spoke To Cody Rhodes Directly About Staying With AEW Earlier This Year

AEW attempted to pull out all the stops in order to try keep Cody Rhodes, but he was determined to join WWE.

Fightful Select have now reported the lengths that Warner Bros Discovery went to in order to keep him in All Elite Wrestling.

In speaking with Warner Bros Discovery sources, we’re told that several efforts were made within the company to retain Cody Rhodes in AEW. Between AEW, Rhodes to the Top and Go Big Show, Rhodes had developed a good rapport with several in WarnerMedia at the time. We’re told that the Cody Rhodes WWE deal wasn’t official until a few weeks before WrestleMania, even though WWE considered it a foregone conclusion. As a result, after the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery, there were inquiries in the company completely separate of AEW to gauge Rhodes’ interest in staying.

Among those that we’re told that made an effort to reach out to Rhodes was Sam Linskey, who serves as Associate General Manager and Senior Vice President of Scripted Original programming for TNT, TBS and TruTv. We’ve heard that there wasn’t any ill will between either side, and Rhodes had told those who asked that it was “time to leave the territory.”

In addition, we’re told that due to the Rhodes’ connections across multiple Warner Bros. Discovery shows, they were also contacted to possibly participate in the UpFronts. We weren’t told if that was tied to AEW, the other shows, or a combination.

Those we spoke to at WBD said they would have loved if Cody Rhodes had stayed, but it wasn’t a dealbreaker for them. Sources within the company also state that they’ve been happy with AEW, particularly with their numbers in September.

Fightful Select

Of course Cody would return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 to a monstrous reaction from the Dallas crowd. He would go on to defeat Seth Rollins at the event. Rhodes is currently nursing a torn pectoral muscle he suffered while training for Hell In A Cell back in June.

Follow Corey at @CoreyBrennanBS on Twitter

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