Cody Rhodes

[RedRooster]

8 minutes ago, The Cutting Edge said:

Never been a fan of anyone or companies doing the "WWE screwed me/didn't use me/brass ring" stuff or other what they think is clever sly digs, a small group of fans will pop for it but making fun of billion dollar company for what they do "wrong" makes them look small time.

WWE is far from perfect but promote yourself not the competition.

I've never subscribed to this viewpoint. It's not like it doesn't happen elsewhere - whether it's between football clubs, videogame companies or GMB/BBC Breakfast presenters. Did "Sega does what Nintendon't" make them look "small time", for example? And I don't think AEW is ever quite as on the nose as that. 

You have to be careful what you say of course (eg. "we run a tight ship" or whatever it was that was said relating to COVID), but in a general sense I don't think it's an issue. 

[The Cutting Edge]

Those possiblity are true but in not a gamer or into football so I don't know about them.

I'm not saying AEW does it alot but as you say make sure you're bulletproof yourself, Jericho talking about "Bad Creative" or Taz "sloppy shop" talking about covid when both companies have had issues on both.

Doesn't bother me but it's just needless

[BomberPat]

35 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

Did "Sega does what Nintendon't" make them look "small time", for example? 

The old adage is that Subway have to tell you why they're better than McDonalds, McDonalds don't have to acknowledge Subway. In the Sega/Nintendo situation, it was about Nintendo being a household name and Sega doing everything they could to shift that.

It's a fine balance - it tells people you're the smaller/lesser known company, but if it's done well you encourage people to give you a go over a brand they might be bored of, or looking for an alternative to. Done badly, and it's the throne smashing gag. I think mostly AEW have managed to keep the balance pretty good in terms of most of the shots at WWE being little funny asides rather than overpowering the story they're trying to tell and coming across as sour grapes. The problem is that with only a couple of exceptions, the majority in the latter camp tend to come from Cody.

[DavidB6937]

I think the main reason I get frustrated with the shots at WWE etc is because you just know that the majority of people saying them would go back to them at some point. We've seen so many shoot interviews and people shitting all over the company and then ending up working with them again. I know some will stick by it admirably but on the whole they're usually empty words.

[gmoney]

2 hours ago, RedRooster said:

Did "Sega does what Nintendon't" make them look "small time", for example?

 

I think it did. Luckily they had decent games and some other, better promotional material. 

I've been watching old ECW recently, and while a lot of the wrestling hasn't aged well, one of the worst things about it the references to WCW and WWF. One show I watched had Shane Douglas drone on for about 20 minutes about Ric Flair and others outside of the company. On another a few years later had Taz cutting promos on Steve Austin, Flair and Hulk rather than people within the company. It's pretty embarrassing looking back. 

[Jackpot]

Cody's run in AEW started off boss. The feuds that have been mentioned were all spot on, although the never competing for the World Title stipulation has held him back and it's becoming even more obvious now. He doesn't even need to feud with Kenny over the World Title but he should be somehow involved with the Bullet Club reunion. Maybe eventually we'll get Cody & The Bucks against Kenny/Gallows/Anderson. 

And Cody was the right man to win the TNT Title first. His reign with that was also cracking. The open challenges to anyone and everyone were a highlight of almost every Dynamite around the time. And the story was progressing with him getting closer and closer to losing the title due to overconfidence. Then he loses the title to Brodie in one of the greatest matches AEW has ever had. And since then it's gone downhill for him. 

Losing the TNT Title should have been the catalyst for a change. But instead he returns, reclaims the title, loses it to Darby, overshadows Darby (and the TNT Title) by hanging around with him and taking the limelight and now he's having the same routine of matches but without any drama attached to them. Arn is still getting pissed off that Cody isn't getting the job done quickly, he still showboats unnecessarily as a babyface. And, like a lot of AEW's storylines, it's gone on too long and makes no real sense. Like the Bucks, Cody wants to be a babyface but acts heel. Either turn them heel or have them act as a babyface. And that's where Cody is failing for me. He's doing the same shit he was 12 months ago without any development to himself or the storyline.

A run with Dustin as a legit tag team should be enjoyable - especially as AEW really wants to put over "actual brothers not wrestling brothers" every time the Bucks are on screen. They can do the same for Rhodes. Fucking hell they can even do a brothers tag team tournament of Rhodes/Bucks/Lucha Bros/Top Flight/Gunns/Sydals and one or two indie brother teams or sign Jeff Hardy up for a surprise. Something, anything, that isn't the same routine of Cody having a twenty minute match and Arn getting a cob on half way through. Cody as Arn's son's coach, while Arn is Cody's coach is another line they could go down. 

[RedRooster]

18 minutes ago, Jackpot said:

And Cody was the right man to win the TNT Title first. His reign with that was also cracking.

See, this is where it started to go wrong for me. His reign did bring us Eddie Kingston and Ricky Starks, so perhaps overall it’s a net positive, but the open challenges generally didn’t work for me. They took him away from what he was doing well, angles and storylines, and he’s not really been able to find his groove since.

There have been a few notable moments - his promo ripping Darby apart and the stuff with Brodie. But I don’t look forward to his stuff like I once did, and I’d go as far as to say I dread it right now.

He could probably get away with the gender reveals and elaborate pregnancy announcements if he was clicking in the way he was during the early days of AEW. But when you’re already fed up of the guy, it’s hard not to roll your eyes and add it to the list of reasons not to like him.

[Jackpot]

55 minutes ago, RedRooster said:

See, this is where it started to go wrong for me. His reign did bring us Eddie Kingston and Ricky Starks, so perhaps overall it’s a net positive, but the open challenges generally didn’t work for me. They took him away from what he was doing well, angles and storylines, and he’s not really been able to find his groove since.

I enjoyed the open challenges because I felt like it was going somewhere storyline. I felt eventually he'd lose to some relative upstart or Arn would finally have enough of him taking the opponents lightly. Instead we got Brodie Lee squashing him in what I still think is one of AEW's greatest matches. And then his return was where it went downhill for me, even though the dog collar match was outstanding, I don't feel he needed to win the TNT Title back that soon. Another loss to Brodie and Cody trying to rebuild himself up would have been for a better story. Whether they knew Brodie's health was in such a bad way at the time, I don't know. And maybe they did give Cody the win back for that reason. 

But since his return, and certainly since the dog-collar match, he has become a real drag to watch. Maybe the fact he was Brodie's last opponent before his untimely death has something to do with that. Maybe it's put into perspective that there's more important things in the world than a wrestling ring. 

[Mr Butternut Squash]

I've said it before and I stand by it that Cody punting himself from the main event picture is the most needless and stupid thing they've done. Once they blew off the MJF feud Cody and AEW just isn't the same. Part of that is obviously pandemic related and losing those white hot crowds, but also, the angles and main event storylines haven't been as strong. Those heated feuds and serious story arcs with the likes of Jericho and MJF are long gone. Compare this cold, unfocused, convoluted build to Revolution to the electricity of last year's and it's night and day. 

Eddie Kingston looked like the one guy in the company that could bring things back to that previous level, but he too is now in a limiting role. 

And it'd be alright if Cody could make it work in the midcard, but he clearly hasn't. The TNT title run had it's positives but it only dragged his star power down. Cody's not the type of worker that can carry cold, competitive matches with a bunch of no-names. And nor should he be, they've already got guys doing that, Cody should stand out. He was all about connecting emotionally. He stopped doing what he was best at. Banging rivalries and personal feuds that he could sink his teeth into, home-run babyface promos and generally being the beating heart of the promotion.

Now he's directionless, with no one interesting to play off, turning more and more into a self-parody. Even his music sucks now.

Edited February 19, 2021 by Mr Butternut Squash

[thicko]

I’ve not watched any AEW, but I follow this thread. I barely watch any WWE these days, generally old stuff on the network, in the back ground. I was a massive Cody Rhodes fan in his WWE days, and even went to an ROH show in NY just because I was there and he was on it. 
Reading between the lines, are you (we) underestimating how much Brodie Lee’s death has affected him? 

[Shane O' Mac Version 2]

26 minutes ago, thicko said:

I’ve not watched any AEW, but I follow this thread. I barely watch any WWE these days, generally old stuff on the network, in the back ground. I was a massive Cody Rhodes fan in his WWE days, and even went to an ROH show in NY just because I was there and he was on it. 
Reading between the lines, are you (we) underestimating how much Brodie Lee’s death has affected him? 

Nah, every criticism in this topic (bar the pregnancy reveal stuff) was relevant way before Brodie's passing.

[rollthedice]

Ive always had a soft spot for him but the last year or so I've found myself just taking little jabs at him.

I liked the idea of the MJF feud but never bought into him being Cody's best mate. Had they ever been on TV together before AEW?

Why does he always have an entourage with him? I find the whole Nightmare Family thing a bit weird as it is.

From being the only person who enters through those middle gates to the promo after he won the TNT title where he said he was going to "cut a schedule like no other" Good luck with that during a pandemic. 

He desperately needs a proper program to get stuck into after this Shaq nonsense is over.

And yeah, even his music is crap now, although I blame Snoop for that. See Sasha Banks' music. 

[HarmonicGenerator]

I don’t quite get the idea that Cody was held down in WWE. In the early 2010s he got a string of featured WrestleMania matches, something that very few outside the main event crowd got. Especially when it was prior to Mania being four days long, standing out enough not to be chucked in a battle royal or multi man scramble made you a big deal, and Cody got that treatment at WM26, 27 and 28.

I have struggled to be interested in Cody since the Dog Collar match too, and I suspect there may have been plans for more with him and the Dark Order. There’s still been enough time since then for them to have thought up something else for him, and they kind of haven’t. Maybe he’s biding his time and is planning some paternity leave soon? Not much point getting too involved in anything if that’s the case.

[Jackpot]

A name reveal and Alex Marvez providing live updates from the ozzy while Brandi is actually giving birth are still to come.

And then another feud with Shaq, who claims he's actually the father of the child after having an affair with Brandi for the last six months with Jeremy Kyle doing a special DyNAmite episode to provide us all with the answers.