10 Shocking Acts Of Violence In AEW
8. Cody Takes Ten
No blood in this one, but still just as shocking.
After betraying Cody Rhodes and costing him the opportunity to ever compete for the AEW World Championship again, MJF began his legendary ascent to becoming one of the most villainous heels in wrestling. Knowing Cody would want his revenge, the 'Salt of the Earth' gave Cody a list of hoops to jump through, confident that the 'American Nightmare' wouldn't be able to do them.
The most outrageous was that he got to whip Cody ten times with his belt.
The IWC went into overdrive to try and book around it, but it turned out, there wasn't a way around it. Instead, Cody took to the ring, took his shirt off and allowed his enemy to whip him black and blue with the belt. It was a masterful segment, with MJF's anger and desperation growing as Cody gutted his way through it, as the Young Bucks and even his wife, raced to the ring to show their support. Also, that whip from Wardlow still echoes to this day.
This incredibly powerful segment was paid off masterfully when MJF put Wardlow through the same set of conditions two years later, only this time, Wardlow took all ten lashes without even flinching. Man, it's hard to think now, but Wardlow really was the coolest man in wrestling in 2022, wasn't he?