The many sins of Cody Rhodes

[d-d-d-dAz]

5 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

But isn't it a culture that's largely lessened in wrestling? Wrestlers now seemingly taking more time off for injuries that they would have worked through pre-00's.

I think by and large, yes, but this was a very unique set of circumstances.

He’s a rare guy in that he’s actually likely now unemployable by the other side; he’s in the middle of a surprisingly successful main event push most people said he wasn’t good enough for (including his current bosses) and it’s his very first PPV main event, where it can be quantified that tickets sold because of him.

I can see why he’d feel he couldn’t miss that. What he probably needed was someone to say ‘absolutely fucking not; we’ll take the heat for it and once you’re back your spot will be waiting for you’ and whilst we can’t prove that didn’t happen, it doesn’t feel likely.

It seems like he, the entertainer (with all the above context) was left to make the decision for himself and I can see why he made the decision he did. Plus, I imagine shit like the below plays on talents mind too. It’s really on the office to stop it.

 

Edited June 6, 2022 by d-d-d-dAz

[Hannibal Scorch]

29 minutes ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

I think by and large, yes, but this was a very unique set of circumstances.

He’s a rare guy in that he’s actually likely now unemployable by the other side; he’s in the middle of a surprisingly successful main event push most people said he wasn’t good enough for (including his current bosses) and it’s his very first PPV main event, where it can be quantified that tickets sold because of him.

I can see why he’d feel he couldn’t miss that. What he probably needed was someone to say ‘absolutely fucking not; we’ll take the heat for it and once you’re back your spot will be waiting for you’ and whilst we can’t prove that didn’t happen, it doesn’t feel likely.

It seems like he, the entertainer (with all the above context) was left to make the decision for himself and I can see why he made the decision he did. Plus, I imagine shit like the below plays on talents mind too. It’s really on the office to stop it.

 

Wrestlers shouldn't be able to decided when seriously injured if they should still have their match. They could have done an injury angle, they could have done an attack pre match. Instead a visibly injured Cody beat Seth Rollins making Seth look like a chump who can't beat a one armed wrestler.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Just now, Hannibal Scorch said:

Wrestlers shouldn't be able to decided when seriously injured if they should still have their match. They could have done an injury angle, they could have done an attack pre match. Instead a visibly injured Cody beat Seth Rollins making Seth look like a chump who can't beat a one armed wrestler.

Correct.

Which is exactly what I’ve said in every post I’ve made.

Wrestlers shouldn’t be able to make that decision, they should be saved from themselves.

But blaming Cody is pointless. He’s done nothing wrong.

[Hannibal Scorch]

1 hour ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Correct.

Which is exactly what I’ve said in every post I’ve made.

Wrestlers shouldn’t be able to make that decision, they should be saved from themselves.

But blaming Cody is pointless. He’s done nothing wrong.

He came out and worked a match. He decided it, 

Spoiler

htey let him and let Seth Rollins not just lose to him for the 3rd straight time, but also while being visibly injured.

Cody is seen as a hero for still going out to wrestle to not let down the fans. Seth looks like a chump that no-one can take seriously. Who is the winner here?

Edited June 6, 2022 by Hannibal Scorch

[d-d-d-dAz]

Cody. Isn’t that clear by now? He’s won. He just shouldn’t have been allowed to make that decision.

Everything after ‘he decided it’ in your post isn’t up to him, and the ‘he decided it’ part shouldn’t have been in his hands.

So yeah, I think he’s eeked out a victory here, in that people can see that he’s a brave little soldier who actually seems to care. The system that allowed him to show that is to blame.

I think if it was anyone else, everyone would be blaming the office for sending him out. But the weird Cody hatred is muddying the water.

Edited June 6, 2022 by d-d-d-dAz

[gmoney]

10 minutes ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

 

Are we not concerned about spoilers any more? Cheers both.

Edited June 6, 2022 by gmoney

[David]

Wouldn't him working with one arm put his fellow competitors at risk? Surely he'd be less able to protect them during a match if he's so badly compromised? 

[d-d-d-dAz]

3 minutes ago, David said:

Wouldn't him working with one arm put his fellow competitors at risk? Surely he'd be less able to protect them during a match if he's so badly compromised? 

Hard to discuss in this thread, but you should definitely watch it.

Even just for morbid curiosity alone, it’s a really interesting/fascinating match.

[Keith Houchen]

3 hours ago, Merzbow said:

Working hurt, and so visibly so is fucking awful stuff. It leads to expectations for other workers to do the same.

Cody works through his lunch break on busy days and only has doctors appointments out of office hours. 

[air_raid]

24 minutes ago, David said:

Wouldn't him working with one arm put his fellow competitors at risk? Surely he'd be less able to protect them during a match if he's so badly compromised? 

Exactly this. Bret always talks about trusting your body to the other guy in the ring, so its fair to say as big a moron Cody is for doing the match with himself in that condition, is Rollins for letting Rhodes endanger him too. Although, maybe I shouldnt cite Bret in this case, he'd probably consider it "what goes around comes around" if Seth got injured.

As far as the booking, without spoiling the actual result, I don't take issue with it not being booked as "swift win over the clearly very injured babyface" for a main event match when you get chance to do (regardless of eventual winner) "look at heroic Cody being a hero!" from a storytelling point of view - given that you're already letting the match take place, even if it would have been preferable from a common sense, nobody getting (further) injured point of view.

Everyone involved are stupid for letting the match take place, regardless. Sod goodwill, nobody in real sports are keeping themselves together with pipe cleaners and LocTite to avoid disappointing kids, regardless of how far they flew to see you. It's a short enough career as it is without this kind of fuckery.

[The Gaffer]

5 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

I think people are being very un-generous to Cody.

Like I’ve said, I’ve got all the respect in the world for him not wanting to disappoint people. It’s the system around him that should have saved him from himself. I’m not into blaming employees for insane takes on loyalty/work ethic/duty as it usually comes from a culture set above.

I'll completely own up to the fact that the viewpoint I'm harbouring on this is anachronistic, unhelpful and maybe even a little toxic...but there's definitely a part of me romanticising the fuck out of what happened last night. It was a gutsy, compelling spectacle that's provided for one of the year's best talking points. 

I thought the same of the Darby/Hardy stuff a few weeks ago. I thought "I know we should be right-on about this, but didn't he significantly reduce the margin of error by padding his own landing with springy steel chairs?"

It could have went wrong, indeed, but how many other matches could you say that for down through the years? I'm not just talking about the Foley and Shane highlight reel stuff either. 

There's a way and perhaps even - Bret - an art to working safe, but how many of us have our best memories of wrestling intrinsically rooted in times when it was potentially very unsafe? 

I loath to come across like some "Ataris out of the locker room please" weirdo like 'Taker but sometimes a proper white knuckle bit of old school is exactly what I'm looking for. Cody seemed to decide last night that's what he wanted to provide, and in this very imperfect, shady medium it's what the imperfect, shady fan in me lapped up. 

I'm not making the case for it. WWE should have stopped him. Just trying to explain how there's a bit of voyeur here a lot of us are attracted to still even if we're not all going to fess up to it. 

[LaGoosh]

Cody wants to be the next John Cena more than anything. No better way to prove yourself to the crazy old boss than to do something fucking mental like this. 

[CleetusVanDamme]

Guarantee if you swapped Cody for Hangman or Danielson people would universally be lauding such a courageous babyface performance. And it was! They really didn't push things that far. It must have been pure hell for Cody, like, but taking worked shots to a torn muscle is hardly putting your life on the line. People are talking like Rollins was endangered too, at what, being dropped from a no-lift powerbomb tease?

A great match. Likely better for my taste than if they both went in 100%. It's a shame it took a legitimate injury to get a simple, easy to follow, body-part focused story. Hope Cody's back for Capital Cardiddlyarnage.

[Devon Malcolm]

45 minutes ago, CleetusVanDamme said:

A great match. Likely better for my taste than if they both went in 100%. 

Precisely. They were forced to do something well off the beaten track and it was an absolute treat. When WWE have to or decide to do something a little different, they're capable of some great stuff.

Rollins gets some bizarre flak on here but I always enjoy his matches and he did a brilliant job here. His characters may be terrible but you always get good matches out of him. Like a slightly less unpalatable Alberto Del Rio.

[Mr_Danger]

Says the man who takes an hour to put his socks on.