In an interview with the Grapsody podcast, AEW President Tony Khan said that losing Cody Rhodes this year affected a number of other departments within All Elite Wrestling and Cody’s departure left a major impact.

“Whenever you lose a star the caliber of Cody Rhodes, it’s going to be a major impact on your company and it’s going to affect a number of different departments and a number of different things in terms of the presentation and the backstage,” Khan said.

Rhodes had different roles within the company, including one as an EVP, and was also filming the second season of his reality show Rhodes to the Top for TNT.

Khan put over Rhodes’ work in AEW and said that he really liked Cody and when he left, it was a major challenge for them as a company.

Both Rhodes and Khan never spoke freely about why the two parties decided to split and vowed to never speak badly about each other.

Rhodes and AEW announced that they have agreed to part ways on February 14, 2021, sending shockwaves throughout the industry. He returned to WWE at WrestleMania in April.