Cody Fuels AEW WarGames Speculation With "The Match Beyond" Trademark

Are AEW heading towards their own version of the classic match concept?

Cody War Games
AEW/TNT

Following on from yesterday's report that AEW had filed a trademark application for "All Elite Wrestling Blood And Guts," Cody has done the same for the phrase "The Match Beyond" for "entertainment purposes," hinting, once again, that the promotion are heading towards their take on the WarGames match format.

Cody's first big tease of this came on the 6 November episode of AEW Dynamite. During a promo to hype his Full Gear match with Chris Jericho, he cited a "Match Beyond, and we will eat you alive."

The Match Beyond is the final phase in the original WarGames format.

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Interesting timing, given that WWE's take on the format goes down with this Saturday's NXT TakeOver event, though a bout between Chris Jericho's Inner Circle and a Cody-led faction of Elite-affiliated babyfaces could work well.

AEW have also announced the return of Bash at the Beach as a nine-day fan festival. How are they able to use these old WCW names? Because, as pointed out by Wrestling Inc., Cody owns these trademarks, along with "The American Dream," "Battlebowl," and a number of others, having claimed in March that he wanted to reclaim some of his father's old properties.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.