Dav'oh Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Cent One: Cody was always an "outsider" in the Bucks/Omega/Cole/Page etc clique. He rode their coattails, is all. More like a distant cousin than a brother. Not surprised there's no love lost there. Cent Two: This all presupposes the WWE Universe won't shit on him. He was a tepid lower-to-mid carder in his previous run, he's engendered indifference at best and hostility at worst since then, and he deserted the WWE Family for the pissants. I'm sure he wants to come back as the Prodigal Son who's returned to the fold, but I can't imagine him being received that way. Of course, he could be being sent there as a "mole"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 The funny part is it's going to pretty much be impossible for WWE to push him as any sort of big deal without at least somewhat acknowledging AEW is the legit competitor they keep saying they aren't. Cody's not going to be buried if he signs for the amount of money WWE will likely offer just to get the PR win, and since in WWE canon the last we saw him he was just some geek dressing like his brother's gimmick from the 90s. Him being ackowledged as a top guy is an implicit acknowledgement of AEW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 I am not selling subscriptions seriously. But Wade Keller's audio hotline is a must listen and you are better off hearing it yourselves. VERY basically: As a wrestler/star Cody fell down the pecking order as a wrestler value-wise with the additions of Punk, Danielson etc. And thus decreasingly cost-effective. Cody seemingly wanted to be on par with Tony Khan in the company. The old 1995 Bill Watts WWF thing of there's only one Titan in Titan Sports and that's Vince McMahon seemingly came into play. There was a wear-out factor with Cody's general CODYness (just look at live crowd sentiment) and according to Wade: "Nobody has anything nice to say about Brandi Rhodes...Brandi is not seen as an asset on camera, in the ring, or behind the scenes." Which created another thing to navigate around with Cody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Seems like that's something that should have been discussed and put on paper before the company even started up. But also lol to literally all of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 2 minutes ago, strobogo said: Seems like that's something that should have been discussed and put on paper before the company even started up. One of those things that they just didn't know about until they were out of theory and into practice. I believe they made a talking point early on that every decision made would be a unanimous one by all the EVPs--that lasted for about as long as you'd expect. If every decision had to be unanimous, nothing ever would have gotten done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 The way Cody thinks, part of me thinks he might see a path to get the keys to the NXT castle and assume a spot within the succession plan to one day run WWE Creative. Think about it -- Vince has lost confidence in his son-in-law and never had confidence in his son at all, and now someone is available who has a track record. I'm not saying WWE would think that way or offer that, I'm saying that Cody might think he can effectively play the game to land in that spot within a few years. It's not about it being realistic or not, it's about him believing it's realistic or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 39 minutes ago, PeteF3 said: One of those things that they just didn't know about until they were out of theory and into practice. I believe they made a talking point early on that every decision made would be a unanimous one by all the EVPs--that lasted for about as long as you'd expect. If every decision had to be unanimous, nothing ever would have gotten done. Famously the "every decision would be made by all the EVPs" led up to creatively the worst TV they've done and caused Tony to pull rank and basically name himself head of creative. Also Cody did get some unfair heat at times too. Since they kept it secret that Ogogo was getting another eye surgery, it made Cody look like he was Hunter-ing him by going over, when in retrospect it made perfect sense for him to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 I should watch Dark more often Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetsujin Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Cody out of AEW is wonderful news. Cody back in WWE would be even better news (trash belongs in the trash bin). But the funniest part to me is how quickly and badly the "Cody is booking himself to be the new Cena and everything he's doing he's doing it on purpose, there's nothing wrong" narrative has aged. Now we only need Omega and The Bucks out, and the company would be limitless. But that's nearly impossible I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Speaking of Kenny, he should probably be on his way back soon unless there was some setback with his injury recovery. Knowing how AEW works, probably the first Dynamite after the PPV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 6 hours ago, Loss said: The way Cody thinks, part of me thinks he might see a path to get the keys to the NXT castle and assume a spot within the succession plan to one day run WWE Creative. Think about it -- Vince has lost confidence in his son-in-law and never had confidence in his son at all, and now someone is available who has a track record. I'm not saying WWE would think that way or offer that, I'm saying that Cody might think he can effectively play the game to land in that spot within a few years. It's not about it being realistic or not, it's about him believing it's realistic or not. I jokingly talked about Cody getting the creative of NXT2.0, but objectively, he may have this on the back of his mind in the never ending quest of chasing his father's shadow. After all, who was more instrumental in developing the best (of you believe the hype) years of NXT than Dusty ? The issue is, as always, is that whatever you did outside of WWE doesn't really count. I mean, it does, but it doesn't. Also, for as much as Cody was a positive influence backstage in AEW in term of working with younger talent, he was never the booker. The idea that everybody was doing the booking has been debunked a long time ago, TK always was the man in charge in the end. Maybe they others EVP had more leeways before the infamous Dark Order beatdown episode (the worst Dynamite finish ever), but it was never a booking committee of sorts. No idea how Brandi fits into this either. She wants to be a worker again, but she always shines the best as a heel valet, she's actually great at it. Her AEW stint really has been a miss for the most part, when you look back at it, in term of in-front of the camera stuff. I gave her the benefit of the doubt over and over again, but there's no two ways about it. In WWE she'd be Maria Kanellis, basically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJayTabb Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 When you think of the early growing pains of AEW, that terrible faction with Brandi, death match legend Luther and Mel (the girl who shaved her head and was never seen again) feels like the worst. People laugh at the Librarians, but at least they mainly stayed on Dark, this got actual TV time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Brandi is definitely not good in the ring at all and it seems like promotors never wanted to just tell her that due to her being a package deal with Cody. I think she does have value as an on screen character, but in ring it's like if Stephanie McMahon decided she was going to be a full time in ring talent. Anyway, I feel like a Cody return to WWE is going to be 2 months of decent booking and big matches and as soon as the hype of the jump from AEW dies down, he'll be a slightly better booked Bobby Roode for the rest of his run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 2 hours ago, El-P said: I jokingly talked about Cody getting the creative of NXT2.0, but objectively, he may have this on the back of his mind in the never ending quest of chasing his father's shadow. After all, who was more instrumental in developing the best (of you believe the hype) years of NXT than Dusty ? The issue is, as always, is that whatever you did outside of WWE doesn't really count. I mean, it does, but it doesn't. Also, for as much as Cody was a positive influence backstage in AEW in term of working with younger talent, he was never the booker. The idea that everybody was doing the booking has been debunked a long time ago, TK always was the man in charge in the end. Maybe they others EVP had more leeways before the infamous Dark Order beatdown episode (the worst Dynamite finish ever), but it was never a booking committee of sorts. I was focusing more on Cody's possible perception of the landscape than any realities of the landscape. I'd be shocked if in his mind, he doesn't think he has a track record now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Having watched her last few matches, I think Brandi's pretty good at taking offense. I'll stop there because I try to be a good person. Also, I didn't mind that Nakazawa spot. There were way more hilariously egregious things in the match. Taz and Excalibur were losing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Migs Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 11 hours ago, rovert said: I am not selling subscriptions seriously. But Wade Keller's audio hotline is a must listen and you are better off hearing it yourselves. VERY basically: As a wrestler/star Cody fell down the pecking order as a wrestler value-wise with the additions of Punk, Danielson etc. And thus decreasingly cost-effective. Cody seemingly wanted to be on par with Tony Khan in the company. The old 1995 Bill Watts WWF thing of there's only one Titan in Titan Sports and that's Vince McMahon seemingly came into play. There was a wear-out factor with Cody's general CODYness (just look at live crowd sentiment) and according to Wade: "Nobody has anything nice to say about Brandi Rhodes...Brandi is not seen as an asset on camera, in the ring, or behind the scenes." Which created another thing to navigate around with Cody. Meltzer very generally pointed out that when we're talking option years... there was an option on Brandi too. So, reading between the lines - TK may not have had a problem paying Cody, but paying the Cody + Brandi package was getting absurd and he wanted Brandi to take a different (smaller) role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Meltzer said on WOR that "Brandi is probably a bigger part of this story than any of us have talked about." I'm starting to think it was mainly a matter of Brandi wanting to be a full-time wrestler and there being no place for her even in the bog-standard AEW women's division. Recall that she was set to feud with Jade Cargill before she got pregnant. When she came back, the division had moved on and left her behind. And since she and Cody are a package deal, they both decided to bounce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Wolfe Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Brandi and Charlotte Flair is money just in car crash potential alone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Some folks like Nyla have strongly denied the “Brandi is a massive bitch backstage” narrative. Her wanting to be a full-time wrestler is much more likely, considering she talked about that a bunch on the reality show… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 3 hours ago, NintendoLogic said: And since she and Cody are a package deal, they both decided to bounce. Well, apparently now the word is that Cody is going to WWE, but without Brandi. Plot thickens. Of course, rumors... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 I don't see how Brandi would fit anywhere in WWE, they don't need her as a wrestler, and they don't really do the manager/valet role she's good at. Plus they probably only see her as a ring announcer because that's what she did for them before and once you're in a role in WWE it's quite the uphill battle to change their perception of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Also the whole Cody/TK deal reads like a relationship where both people realized the magic was gone and just decided to part ways with no hard feelings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Cody always idolized his father, so it's only fitting that he would follow in Dusty's footsteps by going hat in hand to Vince after falling out with his old company over losing booking power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 11 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said: Cody always idolized his father, so it's only fitting that he would follow in Dusty's footsteps by going hat in hand to Vince after falling out with his old company over losing booking power. Back in AEW in three years on commentary, talking about going to the pay window and the mothership. In 2028 he'll turn heel and join the Bullet Club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Dying at the thought of Cody doing "grandson of a plumber" videos to build up his debut complete with cgi gleam on his smile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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