10 Wrestlers Who Became Amazing After Heavy Criticism
5. Cody
The rise of Cody, most popular babyface in the US, is fairly astonishing and difficult not to damn with (undeserved) faint praise.
He came up in an era, watched primarily by hardcore wrestling fans, in which technical excellence was valued above all else. He showed glimpses of the classic, heart-on-sleeve storytelling ability he has since mastered, particularly in his 2013 run opposite the Authority and the Shield, but nobody heralded him as a game-changer, or anything of the sort. Even when he joined the Elite, and drew as Ring Of Honor World Champion, Cody by having the temerity to not be Kenny Omega drew the derogatory nickname 'Three Star Cody' in online circles.
This take, in retrospect, doubly missed the point. He never strove for the style that draws Match Of The Year-level praise, and he, unchained to anybody's vision but his own, redefined what that meant.
Cody - to reverence, much less critical acclaim - has restored so much of what made wrestling work before it was senselessly abandoned: wrestler-driven creative, emotive, traditional in-ring storytelling, and drawn-out, episodic TV with minimal physical contact designed to enhance the match when it does take place.