10 Best Wrestling Feuds Of 2020
6. Cody Rhodes Vs. Darby Allin
A common take heading into Full Gear 2020 was that Cody Rhodes vs. Darby Allin had been thrown together with little build, with only a few shots of the challenger watching 'The American Nightmare' from the rafters and a single Rhodes promo on the go-home show propping up a major title fight.
This was beyond reductive.
AEW had been building towards Darby Allin's TNT Championship win since before the belt even existed. His win over Cody was in the stars from the moment he first pushed Rhodes to the limit at Fyter Fest 2019, earning a draw, and continued in further clashes, with Allin closing the gap on the (relative) veteran each time out.
Victory slipped away from Allin in their previous bout, as Cody rolled his shoulders on the mat following a Coffin Drop. That win was a product of the experience gulf. Still, Allin was growing, learning, and evolving from each setback, finally earning his shot at destiny with a win over Ricky Starks. Incinerated by Cody as somebody incapable of being AEW's ace during the aforementioned go-home promo, that destiny arrived in the form of a classically-structured Full Gear 2020 match, concluding, rightly, with the latest step in Allin's slow-burning star-making process.