Despite my inactivity on the board I'm still following pro-wrestling (although watching much less than I used to because of a global mental burn out, and yeah, I'm aware of that GWE thingy but it's in 5 years so, a marathon not a sprint ) and enjoying a lot of what AEW does (and other thing not so much like the last part of the Wargames match, less so the padded fall but rather the fact they felt compelled to do that spot, which did look stupid and reeked of WWE among other issues), like this week the amazing SCU vs Young Buck and Miro vs Darby Allin matches (and Mox coming out to Wild Thing as a tribute to Onita and having Nagata showing up), but I do have to say, when Cody cut that promo, it was the very first time I legit CRINGED watching AEW in a "I don't want to watch that shit" way. Of coure there have been bad matches and bad angles before, but this was different. Talking about "taking pro-wrestling 30 years backward", here we are. Of course who am I kidding, this is still pro-wrestling we're talking about, so I should not be surprised. Still, I was feeling embarrassed to watch shit like this when I was 14 years old (Hacksaw Duggan promos during the Slaughter Iraki sympathiser angle, first time I questioned if I should keep on watching that dumb shit), I really have no sympathy for this at all 30 years later.
And the one thing that popped in my mind, oddly enough, was that I would not be surprised to see Cody back in WWE eventually. Let's not get confused. AEW has been built on the Elite. But the Elite was always Kenny Omega & the Young Bucks. That's the core. The match that made it possible was Jericho vs Omega in NJPW. The three people Khan wanted to anchor his promotion were Jericho, Omega & Punk. Of course Cody did get over during his run with the Bullet Club and was a draw against Aldis for the NWA title at All In. And of course he looked like a bigger star *as long as Omega & the Bucks kept themselves in the background* for the first year or so. But once Cody was done with the first main event feuds and got the TV title over, he seemed like he was lost in his own shuffle of wanting to attract the "mainstream viewer", whatever that means. Hey, I though the Shaq match was tons of fun. The build was terrible, but the match was fun. Then again, it really did not mean anything long term. Then, he's doing a baby gender reveal on TV. Ok. Good for you. Watch me not give a fuck. Then, they announce a real TV show, which reeks of WWE. Then, he has this odd feud with QT Marshall that looks totally separated from whatever the Elite are doing on top, leading to a promo flaunting embarrassing jingoism, the worst of it was talking about how 60 years ago there was still segregation in the South but look now he's having a baby with a black woman.... Well, the fact there was still racial segregation 60 years ago is actually super embarrassing, and it's not like the social climate for black folks has got a whole lot better either especially after 4 years of Donald Trump (get some lectures by the NXT crew for your education, people). And the whole "American Dream" thingy, in 2021 ? Really ? What's next, he's gonna cut a promo about how trickling down economy works and how union would kill pro-wrestling (speaking of which, Zelina sure worked us fools for believing she had any actual serious though process. See also, Bryan, Daniel, if he resigns with the E after all this talk about his love of pro-wrestling and his social values and whatnot) ? Yeah, I just want Agogo to punch the fucker in the gut repeatedly after THAT promo, which I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking it was tone deaf as fuck.
So, rumors of a split between EVPs, whatever truth there is to it, would not exactly shock me. And Cody & Brandi back in WWE eventually or going for "other business ventures", as they say, would not surprise me either. The promotion has been built on the Elite views of pro-wrestling (and it never ceases to puzzle me how people seemingly never seem to get bored of complaining about Omega & the Bucks every damn week, I mean, it really is *their* promotion when it comes down to it so...) while Cody seems to chase the ghost of his father (the fact he wasn't in the first Blood & Guts after all may have been an issue too, who knows ?). I'd love to see heel Cody & Brandy Rhodes again working like they did in ROH & NJ a few years ago instead (let's face it, although I gave her the benefit of the doubt so many times during my "honeymoon" period, Brandi's stint in AEW has been a complete mess).
Hey, AEW is just what it is after all : another pro-wrestling company. It's not reinventing the wheel. I'm not exactly worried about them at all, they've been nothing but a great success all things considered (despite the ridiculous "moving the goal post" talk that has been going on since the beginning). The worst thing that could happen to them from my perspective is becoming another WWE. So, yeah, Cody cutting THAT promo was really the first time I went like "well, pro-rasslin'" and sighed. I guess the biggest red flag was there for a while : the neck tattoo.
