Per a new report from Fightful Select, Warner Bros. Discovery officials made several attempts to try and get Cody Rhodes to stay with AEW.
Fightful Select indicates that Rhodes had developed a good rapport with several executives in WarnerMedia due to his work with AEW, the Rhodes To The Top reality show, and the Go Big Show on TBS.
The people who reached out to Rhodes included Sam Linskey, the Associate General Manager and Senior Vice President of Scripted Original Programming for TNT, TBS and TruTV.
It was also said that due to Rhodes’ connections across multiple shows on TBS and TNT, he and Brandi were contacted for potential participation in the Upfronts that took place on May 18. Fightful also indicated that WBD officials said they would have loved it if Rhodes stayed with AEW. However, WBD also said that it was not a deal-breaker for their relationship with AEW. WBD officials are said to be happy with AEW, especially the higher ratings at the end of August and most of September.
The WBD executives who reached out to Rhodes are said to have included Sam Linskey, the Associate General Manager and Senior Vice President of Scripted Original Programming for TNT, TBS and TruTV. Fightful said there was no ill will between Rhodes and WBD. Fightful Select also said Rhodes had said to those who asked him why he was leaving, and that he responded by saying it was “time to leave the territory,” in reference to AEW.
During the time Cody was said to be in contract talks with WWE, there were inquiries made within WBD to try to get Rhodes interested in staying at AEW. Rhodes returned WWE during WrestleMania 38 Night One. He is currently out of action after suffering a torn right pectoral while training for his match at Hell in a Cell against Seth Rollins back on June 5. Rhodes was successful in defeated Rollins. Rhodes is expected to be out of action until early 2023.