10 WWE Rematches We Can’t Wait To See In AEW
Rematches to reignite old rivalries: featuring Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Miro, and more...
As AEW continues to go from strength to strength, it still has a lot of battles to win against the corporate juggernaut that is WWE.
Every western wrestling fan has an attachment to WWE as their introduction to the wild world of sports entertainment, and you would be hard pressed to find a fan who loves or loves to hate WWE. Since the '80s, WWE has ingrained itself into the pop culture landscape during times of mainstream popularity. For many non-fans, WWE is a synonym for wrestling.
Consequently for AEW, these factors conspire to make comparisons to WWE inescapable. The most prevalent diss as a result is that AEW are simply buying up WWE guys. This suggests a rather bleak prospect that once a performer works in WWE, everywhere they've entertained previously and in the future is obscured by an invisible brand as potent as a scarlet letter. It's hugely unfair to put talent in a box, and when creativity is suppressed it's ultimately fans who are shortchanged.
However, a look into wrestler's WWE records gives us an idea of the great matches that are waiting to be reimagined on an AEW card...
10. Cody Vs. PAC
WWE Record:
Neville defeated Stardust - Raw - 25th May 2015
Stardust defeated Neville - Raw - 13th July 015
Neville defeated Stardust - SmackDown - 14th July 2015
Neville defeated Stardust (DQ) - Raw - 28th September 2015
Neville defeated Stardust - Live From MSG - 3rd October 2015
The feud between "The Man That Gravity Forgot" and "The Prince of Dark Matter" is best remembered for welcoming superhero actor Stephen Amell into the WWE Universe cumulating in Stardust and King Barrett losing to Neville and Amell at SummerSlam 2015. As Amell is a legitimate wrestling fan, it went down significantly better than most celebrity cameos.
However, Neville and Stardust's longest WWE singles match clocked in at a mere 7:26. Both men in their prime were capable of so much more. While any singles clash between Cody and PAC would be a rematch, with five booked WWE bouts, the abandonment of Cody's awful and PAC's meh gimmicks make this combination feel fresh.
PAC vs Cody is a completely different match than the cartoon inter-dimensional villain vs the smiling babyface with superhero reflexes. PAC has found the role for him as "The Bastard," and Cody's greatest success under the guise of Stardust was to make even Goldust's peak moments as "The Prince of Perversion" seem palatable.