10 Wrestlers That Pissed Off The Fans
5. Cody Rhodes
The extent to which Cody Rhodes does or doesn't know exactly what he's doing is fascinating.
He's far more self-aware than his reputation in some circles would suggest, but he also quite fancies himself and is - by his own admission - prone to error driven by his wild ambition. The game he's playing is as bizarre as it is compelling. One week, he cuts scatterbrained promos that would be exceptional if he arrived at one point; the next, he crafts incredible ladder matches with the sole purpose of elevating his opponent with spectacular highlight reel moments.
Cody continues to piss off fans with this meta character arc, but he's pro wrestling's preeminent polemicist in general. Who he wins against inspires passionate debate every time he enters the ring - via his own bespoke entrance tunnel, which hardly helps. The most important question is this:
Is what Cody is doing actually beneficial to anything beyond discourse surrounding what Cody is doing?
To arrive at the answer to a complex riddle, you have to focus on who Cody has done jobs for. AEW isn't building towards a future with Andrade, Lance Archer, and Penta El Zero M on top in singles roles. AEW is building towards a future with MJF, Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara on top.
Who did Cody drop falls to?
And would they have resonated as they did, were Cody stigmatised as a guy who never wins?