When did Cody Rhodes know he was leaving AEW to return to the WWE Universe? Did he go through the flaming table versus Andrade in Georgia? Or how about when he won the TNT Championship at the 2021 Holiday Bash? When he suited up as Fuego II to wrestle a dark match as Too Fast Too Fuego? Or how about when he lost the strap in a Unification Ladder match with Sammy Guevara for the TNT Title at Beach Break?

Well, as it turns out, the moment when Rhodes really thought he was leaving was when he was coaching a match between Ruby Soho and Nyla Rose, as at the end of the proceedings, he came to a conclusion that would change the course of professional wrestling forever, as he noted to Sam Roberts in an appearance on Not Sam Wrestling.

“I think it's easy for me now to say ‘Oh, I definitely knew,' but it wasn't the case. I didn't know. The last thing I did at AEW, no one really knows, the last thing I did was coach a match — and I wasn't the best coach, I'm more of, ‘Let you do what you want to' and then we talk about it after — with Ruby (Soho) and Nyla Rose. That was the last thing. I remember walking out the door, they did fine, it wasn't anything to do with them. I remember thinking, ‘I think I'm leaving,'” Cody Rhodes said via Fightful.

“That promo, I remember I mentioned it to Punk as well, ‘Hey, I think I'm going to say this,' I'm not a fan of blindsiding anybody. Where we're terrible at is social media. ‘My opponent just nuked me,' then you nuke him back. Alright, no trust and we're at the peak level of fervor. I look at it now, and I call it the ‘exit interview.' Maybe, selfishly, egotistically, I wanted to remind them, ‘I appreciate the company has changed, I do. Please know, though, there is no company had these things not have happened.' Other things had to happen; (Chris) Jericho had to do his stuff, Bucks had to do their stuff, Kenny (Omega) had to do stuff, (Jon) Moxley had to do stuff, he's a big part of it too, I don't give him credit enough. I just wanted to let them know. The other part was sincerely, this is being a heel, saying you're not going to be a heel. It was just too meta.”

At the time, Rhodes' promo was widely lauded as a success, as it set up his future, paid homage to his past, and set up one final barn burner of a match against his initial opponent from the first-ever edition of AEW Dynamite, Sammy Guevara. With the benefit of hindsight, however, it certainly reads as something more, as it's clear Rhodes knew he was talking on borrowed time.

Cody Rhodes finally reveals his thoughts on the infamous belt-throwing incident.

Elsewhere in his appearance on Not Sam, Cody Rhodes was asked about one of the most formative moments of his AEW career, when he threw his weight belt into the crowd at a show at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, only for some incredible fan to etch his place in wrestling history by throwing it back into the ring, effectively rejecting the “American Nightmare” as the red, white, and blue babyface he tried to model himself after in Tony Khan's company. While Rhodes tried to play it off, you could just tell it hurt him even if he didn't admit it.

“I had fun with it, I did, even when the belt came back in the Target Center, it was perfect. Dax (Harwood) and those guys knew what to do, we leaned into it. I would always tell QT (Marshall) or Tony (Khan) or whoever was there, ‘I'm leaning in.' I don't know if anyone knew what that meant. I think that's the story about everything at the end, ‘I don't know if there's a plan for this. This is chaos.' Chaos, we did big numbers, one of the last Saturday specials did a killer number, and we were doing great business, but chaos, you have to get the reigns on it at some point. Where is this going” Rhodes asked.

“The ‘exit interview,' selfishly, I wanted fans to know, ‘I love you guys so much, and I did all this, and if you have forgotten about it, I don't think that's cool.' It's the nature of it. Me, Matt (Jackson), and Nick (Jackson) talk about that all the time. It's like people don't remember. I'm of the fault that when I'm 80 years old, ‘He did do all this.' It's so odd because I was so mad at different journalists in how they discredited my dad, took ideas, and took things away from him, and later he passed away, ‘He did all of this.' As mad as I was, I felt in that moment, ‘It's happening all over again and happening to me.' There are too many egos in wrestling, including my own. I can't take credit for the revolution, there were other people. Was I a big part of it? Sure.”

What would have happened if Rhodes actually went heel in AEW, and no, not the “meta heel” he's tried to claim he was playing in a major case of revisionist history? Would fans have embraced him to the point where taking a run at the AEW World Championship would have been undeniable, as heels don't care about stipulations? Or would it have remained much of the same, with fans latching on to “their guys” like Jon Moxley, The Elite, and even Rhodes' protege, MJF? Unfortunately, fans will never know outside of simulating a fake future in Fight Forever.