10 Biggest Disappointments From Cody Rhodes’ AEW Career
These are the worst Cody Rhodes AEW moments he’d prefer we didn’t remember.
An apparent career midcarder, Cody couldn’t convince WWE he deserved better. Nor was he the kind of talismanic figure that inspired crowds to get behind him to a degree that forced the company’s hand. It was admirable that he bet on himself and left the biggest game in town, but few expected him to find much success, let alone predicted what happened next.
Cody mixed it up with Bullet Club in Japan, playing a key role in the classic Golden Lovers story. He was a top guy in ROH, helped mastermind All In and went on to conquer American television as a founding member of All Elite Wrestling. However you want to look at it, Cody Rhodes’ journey outside of WWE has been an objective success.
It’s just that no one realised that journey was leading right back where he started from.
It’s disappointing for those who believed in AEW as an “Ellis Island” for wrestlers and the man who told us that’s what it was. AEW will be fine, they have more than enough talent on the books but maybe they’ve just lost a little piece of its soul.
But before we get all weepy and steam up our rose-tinted glasses, let’s remember that Cody Rhodes’ AEW career wasn’t perfect. His time in AEW was not without misfires...
10. That Andrade Match
On the December 1st episode of Dynamite last year, Cody faced Andrade El Idolo in an Atlanta Street Fight. Objectively an entertaining television wrestling match, Cody versus Andrade demonstrated the worst traits of “The American Nightmare’s” ego.
The flaming table spot was a cool visual but it was marred by Cody fighting the match covered in some sort of protective gel that made it look like he was covered in scales. It’s hard to suspend our disbelief and enjoy a wrestling match as if it were a real sporting contest with such an immersion-breaking giveaway.
Nobody is saying that Cody should throw himself into a burning table without some sort of protection. Wrestlers give enough of themselves for our entertainment as it is. It’s just that the suplex through fire, flashy as it was, was completely unnecessary.
Cody loves to have some bells and whistles but this wasn’t a massive grudge match or the blow-off to a long term feud. This felt like Cody desperately reaching for a show-stealing moment when the match and the feud just didn’t call for it.