10 Weapon Fails That Totally Ruined Wrestling Matches
9. The Horrific AEW Discourse Begins
Cody Vs. Darby Allin at Fyter Fest 2019 was both a very, very good match, and an early indication that AEW was set to accomplish excellent work on the episodic TV platform months before Dynamite even premiered on TNT.
Wrestled so superbly on the mat that the dangerous high spots actually scanned as necessary risks with which to establish an advantage, and not hollow attempts to draw a reaction, AEW also took a risk with the story. It worked: Cody's win over Dustin Rhodes at Double Or Nothing was so seminal that he was already in a position to work a draw and retain his star aura, and Allin got over as an emerging upstart worth investing in on cable.
That was until AEW brought back a transgressive and bold spot with suboptimal execution.
When Shawn Spears cracked Cody over the head with a chair in the post-match, the very first example of the toxic over-analytical discourse that has plagued a good promotion that people enjoy surfaced. The idea to shave down the chair into a glorified, less damaging baking tray backfired. It was weighted in such a way that the heavier part clocked Cody in the back of the skull, necessitating a gruesome stitch job. Despite the impact absorbed over several safe matches drastically outweighing one isolated chair shot, AEW was blasted for apparently subjecting its roster to CTE.
Nobody is saying unprotected chair shots to the head are good or advisable. But to consider one chair shot a contributing factor to CTE is a ridiculous statement.
As it happens, Cody and Darby ran it back in an even better match on the first Homecoming Dynamite, but the original match got lost in uninformed concern trolling.