10 Mistakes AEW Can't Afford To Make At Double Or Nothing 2021

7. If You're Going To Put Cody Over...

Cody Rhodes
AEW

...make sure to sell the sh*t out of the fact that it makes sense in context.

The discourse is going to be a nightmare either way. The theme of the match is so charged and sub-optimal that, if anything, it renders Anthony Ogogo's work all the more sublime. He is over as a super-credible heel brimming with dangerous energy. With a finish as great as his promos - that stove your head in patter is great and you can believe it, too - the stage is set for the gilded Olympian to do precisely that.

It's no burial if it doesn't happen. Cody Rhodes isn't Triple H. If Cody Rhodes was Triple H, he'd have worked with Sting immediately because Sting is his favourite wrestler. Cody Rhodes did not immediately work with Sting because, even though he controls the playbook, it wasn't the play.

MJF. Darby Allin. The gravity of the World Title. Cody exists in AEW to put sh*t over. Because he's a marketable star, he can't do that all of the time. If he did, he would not be a star. This is not hard. It really isn't.

Wrestlers can get over in defeat. It happens all of the time, and it mostly happens in AEW. Look at Darby Allin. Ogogo getting over is the foremost objective. If Cody, the far more experienced wrestler, wins a wrestling match, it isn't a dumb thing.

That needs to be emphasised if and when it happens.

 
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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!