Teil Rhodes Believes Cody Leaving WWE Is A Major Reason AEW Exists

Teil Rhodes, sister of AEW stars Cody and Dustin Rhodes, joined Busted Open Radio to talk about her appearance on the new reality show Rhodes to the Top. Rhodes was also asked if she believed if Cody's release from WWE in 2016 was the catalyst for AEW's formation in 2019, something she believes to be the case.

"Absolutely," Rhodes said. "People can have their own opinions, but AEW doesn't happen if Cody didn't leave on his own accord, make his little list, and throw himself into the fire. There are a lot of other pieces that had to come together too, and obviously Tony Khan being the kingpin of all that momentum that these guys had built together and separate. But none of this happens without Cody leaving. I cried when he told me he was done done. We had talked about it a lot. I sat in the car and I cried because I thought 'he wanted to be a world champion. That was always his goal and it's over.'"

Before AEW, Cody, fellow AEW EVP's the Young Bucks, and former Elite member Hangman Page worked with Ring of Honor, a promotion many feel was poised to make a leap if the Elite had stayed. Rhodes believes they had the capital to compete but ultimately were too comfortable in their position to really give it a go.

"They had the capital and Cody really talked fondly about that period because they gave them all a lot of creative freedom that had been missing," Rhodes said. "But they were just kind of, I mean, I don't know. My guess is they were kind of happy with where they were at in like that niche in the business, and they weren't looking to elevate to that next level competition wise. But yeah, that was a surprise that they didn't want to just take all those guys."

Rhodes to the Top airs every Wednesday at 10 p.m., following AEW Dynamite.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Busted Open Radio and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription