10 Best Times AEW Threw Shade At WWE
4. Brodie Lee's Vince McMahon Parody
The aim is to get Brodie Lee over as a powerful enough figure to convincingly lead the Dark Order.
The thing about power is that it corrupts. Those who aspire to it become those who wield it. There's a cyclical psychology to how power is sustained. Consider WWE as an example. Michael Cole took wedgies in 1997; as he ascended in rank in WWE over the years, he ridiculed that "goof" Tony Chimel, was beyond obnoxious on the original NXT, and pretty much joined the boy's club that once bantered him off. Corey Graves was witty and likeable on Triple H's NXT; as the years passed, he has grown nasty and insufferable.
On the subject of Trips, he once chased Gerald Brisco backstage with a pair of Vince McMahon's sh*t-caked trousers in a bid to appeal to the boss' cruel and puerile sense of humour.
Power is awful and it summons awfulness. Brodie Lee seeks power to rejuvenate his ailing career, and has now modelled himself after the man who removed his, right down to the on-the-nose loathing of sneezing and peculiar eating habits.
It's either that, or a basic joke, and it's funny because it's warranted.
Vince McMahon is a lunatic who cannot control his sneezes, which is both amusing and grimly emblematic of the state of things. He also derailed Lee's career because he couldn't do a southern accent, which was only ever important in his deranged mind.