Tony Khan Explains Why He Did Not Pick-Up Cody Rhodes AEW Option
During the recent media call for AEW Revolution, Tony Khan spoke about Cody Rhodes leaving the company. The AEW President admitted Cody had an option to extend his deal, as he had done with The Young Bucks. However, he explained his reasons for not doing that.
"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," he said. "And it sounded like at one point I think we were going to, honestly. When we couldn't settle on it, the last thing I wanted to do was keep somebody here that isn't going to want to be here.
"So, it didn't look like we were going to get a longer deal done, and I would have loved to have done it, and 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're going to end up on things. That being said, I have said nothing but respectful stuff about Cody, and I will continue to."
Tony Khan also looked ahead to AEW Revolution this weekend, which is the first PPV since Cody departed. He was asked about feeling pressure to do the show without the American Nightmare. While Tony admitted Cody added to the PPVs, he does not feel any particular pressure due to his absence.
"No, I don't actually, because I have done a few PPVs without Cody on them. And they were both very successful. I really love having him here, as a huge part of the company," Tony said. "But the biggest PPV show the company ever did, he wasn't on, was All Out. And the previous year's All Out, he was also not at. He's a huge part of the PPVs he has been on, but I know we can do a really good PPV without him on the card. But he's also great when he's been on the cards.
"So, in that sense, no I don't, because I think All Out is the best show we ever did, and every show I think we ever do will be compared, I think to All Out, is probably all around as strong of an event as I've ever been a part of. So, I will miss him very much in a lot of ways. But, in terms of feeling that pressure to put on a great PPV, I don't feel that as much because we have done that."
If you use any quotes from this article, please h/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Full audio from Tony Khan's AEW Revolution media call is available as part of today's The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast release. It is already available at YouTube.com/WrestlingInc.
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