Cody Rhodes Issues Statement On His Departure From WWE

Just yesterday, Cody Rhodes revealed he asked WWE to be released. Today, the company granted him that release, as announced on WWE.com just a short time ago:

WWE has come to terms on the release of Cody Rhodes as of today, May 22, 2016. WWE wishes Cody the best in all his future endeavors.

Shortly thereafter, Rhodes issued a statement on Twitter regarding his departure from the sports-entertainment organization.

“Setting foot in the dingy ol’ Greensboro Coliseum this past Monday can only be described for me as just a whimsical moment of clarity. At this point, most folks know that I have indeed asked for my release from World Wrestling Entertainment, but it’s paramount in my mind for the fans of pro wrestling to have some answers and not be left with questions.

A many superlative can be used to describe my mentor in wrestling, but one I often forget about…is fearless. And it’s a trait I wish more of had been passed down my way.

So there I was, standing in the very same locker room Ric Flair had dressed in before changing the wrestling/PPv (closed circuit at the time) game forever and capturing the NWA title at Starrcade 83 “A Flair for The Gold”; it’s sad that after once again being benched off TV that my fate in said spot was instead to be relegated to watching a monitor advertising a returning star and kicking open my tumi gear bag to find an outfit I had long outgrown and a face paint kit.

Both HHH and Vince McMahon have given me many fun and challenging opportunities in my career, and I showed my gratitude by always pushing for the best segment I could create, the most interest I could generate. They gave the chance to train on the job with some of the most brilliant minds in our world (gentlemen like Arn Anderson and Fit Finlay). I would do this job for free, but that didn’t stop WWE from always compensating me in a generous manner.

Stardust

My goal in pro wrestling has always been to win the WWE Championship (the one accolade in the game my father never obtained) and for a decade, I tried to convince both Vince and HHH that I could be their star player, their varsity quarterback if you will, but it seems we have reached the point where neither saw that in me.

I sincerely appreciate HHH’s unflinching respect for my father and how he has acted as a custodian of history in honoring him since his passing. He did not owe me that same respect he gave Dream, but I thought I could earn it in time. One of the last discussions we had included him telling me that “WWE is a play, and everybody has their role and needs to act it their best. All I can think of to say to that is, “The best actors don’t want the lesser roles.”

In the past six months, I had pleaded with WWE Creative and both of my bosses to let me roll the dice and once again be Cody Rhodes. I had pitched to every writer on staff like a door-to-door salesman on “how” & “why” & “when”…and believe me, there are many of those who sought to help me (Brian James, Nick, Faz, J Russo, Dave K, JBL & Cole for letting me go wild on their YouTube show and a few others I’m sure), but for all that both “head writers” of RAW & Smackdown (one pretending to be Brian Gewirtz and the other too busy hitting on developmental divas) continued to not return my pitches or emails, and in face-to-face encounters tried to big league me by pretending to be on their clearly powered off laptops…barely willing to listen to an idea I considered beneficial to more than one talent.

What’s that expression? Don’t take no for an answer….what do you do when you don’t get an answer at all? So there I was….having done everything I could possibly do for ten years to make the most out of both large opportunities and even the half-cocked ones like “paint up like your brother”. Chicken sh*t into chicken salad became my speciality; and with those worthy opportunities afforded me…I can only hope I fully executed.

I’ve made the walk down the ramp at multiple Wrestlemanias, and I have had a Wrestlemania match canceled while I stood at the curtain moments before my music hit. I felt like I had a bag of those brass rings and when it came time for me to cash them in, I find I can’t do so.

Cody & Dusty

Like I said, Monday was whimsical…because I felt that fearlessness in my blood, even if just for a fleeting moment. I realized that I don’t need to sell myself to these two writers captaining a broken unrecognizable system, matter a fact with the time I had put in and the body of work I presented, it should have been the other way around.

I realized that blood is thicker than paint, that I know who I am and what I’m capable of…I’m not Dusty Rhodes. I’m Cody Rhodes. I’m a pro wrestler. I’m proud of that. It’s been said never to leave money on the table, but no money is worth being less than you are. Ask my wife: I don’t even read the check breakdowns…this was never about the money, this was always about the moments and I’ll be damned if my father’s legacy is “Stardust” or a series of sizzle reels for NXT.

It’s not my job to pick up his sword; it’s my privilege. I will miss many of the soldiers in that locker room, some who I have earned their friendship. Guys like Cesaro, Zack Ryder, Tyler Breeze, KO, Harper, Kofi, Tye, the wasteland and the NC…keep that locker room clean and keep having a better match than you’re supposed to. I do believe the cream rises and hard work prevails. My work just needs to be elsewhere.

I want to thank both fans and critics of mine alike. There is no greater responsibility than having a fan who expects a level of entertainment from you, and there’s nothing more motivating than those who buy a ticket yet find something lacking (considering the first few CAW years of my career, I always took the criticism as more of a request and I made what adjustments I could for the overall product).

Again, from the BOTTOM OF MY HEART…thank you. Almost one year ago, the biggest light in my sky was ripped away from me when I lost my father. It’s time for me to try and seek that illumination…that glow that’s still out there. This is not a goodbye. There’s a whole world of film and television and the stage that I might find I have a knack for (maybe I even already got an offer).

As far as the future is concerned though, I’m a wrestler. So that’s what I’ll do…wrestle.