Dave Meltzer has a long story up in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter about the departures of Cody and Brandi Rhodes from AEW.
Meltzer noted that while people publicly have thanked Cody for his work, this was not universal and there were people that were happy about both Cody and Brandi being gone and the “hero treatment” given to Cody by some is a great public story but not the real story. This basically confirms what Wade Keller reported earlier this week. Meltzer also confirmed that Cody was not happy about losing power and Brandi had her critics.
In regards to Brandi, it was noted by one person that Dana Massie (Matt Jackson’s wife) never got the credit for a lot of her work when it came to things involved with Brandi on the deal side.
Meltzer added that there were issues with the women’s division that was first earmarked for Brandi. At the early AEW press conferences, Brandi talked about what she wanted to do with the women’s division but those duties were taken over by Kenny Omega with Tony Khan having the final say.
Meltzer added that a lot of talent were “quietly celebrating” and that it wasn’t all sadness that it was made out to be in public. One key person was said to be surprised at their departures but said that the locker room reaction was positive. However, Cody did have supporters.
It was noted that Cody did a lot for community outreach and worked closely on that with Amanda Huber and there was a lot of good that he did that has not been publicized. Cody was said to be the most hands on backstage at shows and some welcomed this while others didn’t. Brandi had ideas for herself and the women that ended up not happening.
