WWE President Nick Khan comments on Cody Rhodes leaving the company, helping to start AEW, then returning to WWE:
“He asked to be released from a guaranteed contract, and he goes on the independent circuit, and he helps to start up another company.
“Sometimes you’ve gotta leave home to be considered an adult. And I think because he had grown up at WWE or around wrestling, WCW, NWA, WWE, he had to leave and go do his own thing so he wouldn’t just be Dusty’s son.
“And when he came back, 2022 WrestleMania in Dallas, the crowd went fucking crazy for him. And I thought at that moment, ‘Man, he made all the right moves, and he took risks, and his risks paid off’.
“And as you know, he’s one of our top guys right now. He’s a gem.”
(Source: What’s You Story? With Steph McMahon)