10 Things That Didn't Go The Way AEW Wanted

2. Cody Rhodes Does Something Heroic, Gets Booed Out Of The Building

The Butcher The Blade The Bunny Cody Rhodes AEW Dynamite
AEW

We'll never know if the recent actions of - and reactions to - Cody Rhodes were going to lead to a monumental heel turn that would've positioned the American Nightmare as the top villain of Tony Khan's promotion. By all accounts and purposes, Cody had no interest in embracing the hate, which makes so much of the last year or more of Rhodes' AEW antics all the more head scratching.

In 2019, Cody was the top singles act babyface in AEW. And more still, fans treated him like the top singles act babyface in AEW.

Regardless of how Rhodes was continually utilised as a hero throughout his entire tenure with the promotion, the last year bordered on farcical when it came to Cody.

What if Cody fights the foreign menace of Anthony Ogogo while cutting promos about equality? Sections of the crowd veered away from Rhodes. What if Cody symbolically leaves his boots in the ring and cuts an emotional speech teasing retirement? Sections of the crowd veered away from Rhodes. What if Cody talks about being a proud first-time father? Sections of the crowd veered away from Rhodes. What if Cody literally sets himself on fire? Sections of the crowd veered away from Rhodes.

The list goes on when it comes to examples of AEW and Cody doing all they could to position the performer as a figure who audiences should want to get behind. Multiple, lengthy absences, Triple H-lite claims and a certain 'my sh*t don't stink' smug aura were just some of the reasons why fans struggled to react to the three-time TNT Champion with anything but boos.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.