10 Wrestling Feuds That Borrowed From Unlikely Inspirations

7. Cody Rhodes: TNT Champion (John Cena: US Champion)

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AEW

Cody's 2020 reign as TNT Champion ranged from solid-to-excellent thanks to both the in-ring action and the angles he built in the background.

Wins over Eddie Kingston, Jungle Boy, Marc Quen and Ricky Starks were of dependable quality, and at times captured the AEW EVP embracing the b*stard within himself to retain, saving big celebrations for himself, and tacitly teasing an eventual slaughtering by Brodie Lee and powerful at-long-last loss to Darby Allin.

The weekly title defence gimmick wasn't invented by John Cena, but the micro and macro storytelling was present during his own fantastic 2015 run with the United States Championship. Seth Rollins, Neville, Cesaro and especially Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn found their short-to-medium term arcs impacted by their evocative interactions with 'The Champ' on Mondays, not least when the matches became the undisputed highlights of the show.

Cody, as Stardust, was one of the first to accept the open challenge. The pair put forth the sort of quality offering the TNT Champion is attempting with his own take on the tale.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett