10 Biggest Disappointments From Cody Rhodes’ AEW Career
5. The Malakai Black Feud
Malakai Black go off to a strong start in AEW, dropping both Arn Anderson and Cody Rhodes with the Black Mass setting up his first feud then getting a dominant win over Cody in his debut match. Black pinned Rhodes with one foot on his chest, then post-match, when Cody removed his boot in faux retirement, Malakai tried to blast him out of the other one with a crutch.
At first, it looked like this feud would echo Cody’s short but effective programme with Mr Brodie Lee. Instead, it spiralled into aimless, pointless tags, pulling in PAC and Andrade. Despite a singles rematch win at Grand Slam, somehow this dragged out feud didn’t quite serve Black as well as it should have done.
Meanwhile, Cody’s mixed reception from fans made it actively more difficult for the new guy to establish his heel persona. Cody’s “situational heel” schtick made sense when his babyface character showboated or threw in a cheap shot to heap sympathy on an up and coming babyface. By this point, he was just a played out babyface that crowds were sick of against the exciting new signing they wanted to see thrive.
It’s hard to look like a villain when the crowd goes wild for you every time you batter the babyface.