AEW Dynamite - August 4, 2021

[sek69]

I thought he was a Perfectly Acceptable Guy when he was in ROH, not anyone to go out of your way to see. Apparently he's a good trainer so there's value in that, but yeah I didn't need to see him taking up TV time for anything other than being a mouthpiece for newbies. 

[strobogo]

I didn't even know he had ever been in ROH. The state of that company in the past 8 or 9 years my goodness.

[FMKK]

1 hour ago, strobogo said:

I take umbrage that he's elevated people. Especially dudes like Brodie or Black who did not need elevation and were arguably immediately more popular stars from their debuts than Cody. I don't think he did much for Darby either, as Darby got over on his own just doing Darby things and Cody would pop in to be "taken to the limit" every 6 months and Darby would have to start over from the bottom again. I'd argue that the association with Moxley in the early AEW days did more for Darby than anything involving Cody. Darby just toiled around in the undercard for a whole year before he beat Cody and by that point he was already super over. After the MJF/Cody feud, MJF did damn near nothing for a whole year before getting paired up with Jericho. 

 

Nothing Cody does elevates anyone or anything because he is so completely disconnected from the rest of the show that he feels like he's in his own little pocket universe where nothing matters. 

 

 

Also lol Spears

If Cody didn’t elevate any of those people then you’re setting such an impossible standard that there may as well be no such thing as elevating anyone. Darby Allin pinning one of the EVPs clean on PPV for a championship that Cody himself got over didn’t elevate him? I mean, Jesus Christ.

[strobogo]

Darby had already been arguably the most over act in the company for nearly a year by the time that happened. There was nowhere left to elevate to for him. He was already there. In fact the previous match with Cody had cooled him down for a while.

[MoS]

Imo Darby beating Cody for the TNT title was big, and it helped elevate Darby while telling a story because Cody had beaten Darby during the tournament for the title. I don't know if Darby was as over in May as he was when he beat Cody in November. That loss also started Darby's long feud with Taz, which went nowhere for a long time, but ultimately resulted in the Sting tag.

That title run in general did a lot for AEW, because Cody was a star and an established name and his open challenge allowed a lot of newcomers and rookies to look good against a guy of his status and immediately fit into AEW. Guys like Kingston and Ricky Starks benefited a lot by debuting against Cody. As far as Brodie, his squash of Cody definitely made him look like a monster, and he barely got beaten after getting choked with a chain in the rematch. We don't know how their feud would have concluded for sadly obvious reasons.

In general, Cody being a main event gatekeeper where if you beat him, you can basically headline a Dynamite episode, has been good booking that has used Cody's status and push to help elevate young talent by giving a visual cue to fans that these guys are legit stars and potential main eventers. I think it's sensible hierarchical booking and Cody has done everything to hold his end of the bargain. MJF for example. Before beating Cody, he was basically Cody's comic sidekick who everybody knew was going to turn. When MJF beat Cody, Cody never got anything back on him, immediately transitioning to Jake Roberts. MJF immediately went on to challenge for the world title, and the PPV (and the quarters) did well, so it clearly worked. 

[sek69]

I seem to recall some people saying Cody getting the TNT title was ego driven (again not by anyone here IIRC but elsewhere on the interwebs), but like MoS said his open challenge gave people a shot on the big stage and was probably the main reason guys like Kingston and Starks got offered contracts. 

[FMKK]

On 8/6/2021 at 3:04 AM, strobogo said:

Darby had already been arguably the most over act in the company for nearly a year by the time that happened. There was nowhere left to elevate to for him. He was already there. In fact the previous match with Cody had cooled him down for a while.

Darby being the most over act in the company since November 2019 is pure fantasy. We’re moving the goalposts here specifically so that Cody Rhodes can get zero credit for putting someone over when anyone else would be acknowledged as having done so with the exact same actions.

[C.S.]

1 hour ago, FMKK said:

Darby being the most over act in the company since November 2019 is pure fantasy. We’re moving the goalposts here specifically so that Cody Rhodes can get zero credit for putting someone over when anyone else would be acknowledged as having done so with the exact same actions.

Agreed. Cody made Darby, period. It's such a fucking cut-and-dried case that anyone claiming otherwise either doesn't understand wrestling or is stupidly anti-Cody.

 

[strobogo]

Cody stalled Darby's momentum twice but okay sure he made him because he eventually put him over after 4 tries

[sek69]

Dave often talks about the difference between someone winning a match and someone getting put over. WCW was full of examples of guys winning matches but not getting put over, Cody was able to make the people he faces look like a million bucks even in losing, which made  them a bigger deal in the fans's eyes when they got their big wins. 

[strobogo]

Well when people use QT Marshal and Shawn Spears as guys Cody put over, that's not a good read on Cody's abilities

[Big Pete]

On 8/6/2021 at 11:22 AM, strobogo said:

I didn't even know he had ever been in ROH. The state of that company in the past 8 or 9 years my goodness.

ROH fans had a difficult time wrapping their heads around QT Marshall working television while their favourites couldn't get a gig. He was perceived as another Mike Mondo, just another OVW guy who didn't appeal to anyone other than Cornette.

9 years on and somehow Marshall has the job of formatting the show which from that perspective has been an absolute dog's breakfast at times.

[FMKK]

11 hours ago, strobogo said:

Cody stalled Darby's momentum twice but okay sure he made him because he eventually put him over after 4 tries

You mean they built to the new guy beating the established star instead of giving it away on the first go? Darby lost to Jericho, lost to Moxley twice and lost to Cody twice before he finally beat Cody for a belt. That’s showing that he has progressed to the next level. Not everyone has to come in pushed like Okada, especially not a guy like Darby.

And if established AEW star Cody Rhodes can’t win B-level feuds with QT Marshall and Shawn Spears then you’re basically saying he should be a no entrance jobber.

[Big Pete]

Cody didn't stall Darby's momentum, Darby started off as a side-show guy having hardcore matches with Joey Janela and Jimmy Havoc before he stepped in the ring with Cody. That helped break him out of that division and from there Darby did the rest.

I agree that Brodie Lee really didn't need to squash Cody. Did they get the title off of Brodie first thing because they knew he was unwell? Or was that Cody just getting his win back ASAP?

[Boss Rock]

I think Brodie was injured during the match and it was during training and rehab that he began to get sick. My thinking at the time was that Cody came back too soon and that they should have stretched it to the next ppv. Brodie was likely to feud with Hangman so that may have been why they put the title back on Cody when they did.

[MoS]

I think it's possible they would have had a third match after Cody lost the title to Darby. If they were building to Brodie-Hangman, Brodie was probably going over

[Stiva]

I also wonder where they were going with the Colt Cabana/Brodie story before The Dark Order became the fun loving guys they are now. Seems crazy to think how they changed after Brodie died.