During his latest podcast, AEW announcer Tony Schiavone revealed how he reacted to the news that Cody Rhodes has decided to depart All Elite Wrestling:

“Cody Rhodes to me was one of the faces of AEW. Cody was the one who got me in touch with Tony Khan, and that’s why I signed. Of course, I’m very close to the family. We took many bus rides together to Jacksonville. I consider him and Brandi friends. I think we’re a better organization today because of them.”

“I would like to wish them both the best and thank them for what they did for me. They played a major role in what AEW is. But, after you get over the shock of it, you kind of think, ‘You know what? It’s wrestling. It happens.’ This is the first one that’s left our company, but it’s one of our biggest names that left the company, so that’s why it’s the biggest shock. I’m very surprised and I hope he does well.”

During a past episode of his podcast, Schiavone talked about the negative reaction Cody Rhodes received from a certain percentage of the AEW audience:

"Cody has a reality show and gets his own special entrance. I understand he’s getting booed, but he gets cheered a lot too. I’m in the arena so I can hear it and see it much more than you guys can.

I think he got cheered as much as he got booed in Orlando, it’s just the people who boo are much louder and more obnoxious.

When Justin Roberts started calling him ‘The Prince of Wrestling,’ that stuck in people’s craw. He started winning matches. Obviously, he’s an EVP so everybody thinks he gets preferential treatment; that’s not true."

I mean, he lost the first two matches to Malakai Black, so he hasn’t won all matches. He lost to Brodie (Lee). It’s not that he wins every match. Some people just don’t like him. I happen to like him because I like his family."