10 Failed AEW Experiments
6. The Nightmare Collective
During the first year of AEW, it was easy to let minor missteps go as the company found its footing. However, one particular storyline was something that both fans and the company wanted to move away from as soon as possible.
The reasons The Nightmare Collective failed are numerous. Firstly, it narratively made no sense. One week on Dynamite, Brandi Rhodes turned heel out of absolutely nowhere and started cutting the hair off of her enemies. This was in stark contrast to her husband Cody, who was over as the face of this exciting new promotion.
The two characters didn’t acknowledge each other on screen, but the blurred lines of reality and story that wrestling lives in made it hard to comprehend these two characters living together.
The Collective as a group was a confusing mess. Brandi used the stable to introduce Awesome Kong to AEW which made sense at first, but due to injuries, she couldn’t stay the course and retired. This left Melanie Cruise who had been initiated by shaving her head, and Japanese deathmatch star Luther; neither of which AEW’s roster had much familiarity with nor thought they posed much of a threat.
Listening to fan reaction that ranged from boos to often total silence, the story suddenly ended with Brandi getting therapy to undo all of her evil urges and everything was back to normal.