12 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (Mar 5)
1. Never Turn Your Back
Excellent. Just excellent.
This unreal promo duel between Cody and Jake 'The Snake' Roberts had it all. First, 'The American Nightmare' touched on his loss to MJF. He said that while he didn't know what it felt like to personally fall to 'The Salt of the Earth,' he could talk about it professionally, bringing up hard work and lost purses. He then challenged MJF to come to the ring and say he'd beaten Cody fair and square. That's when everything went south.
Out came Jake. A huge surprise in itself, but Roberts was outstanding. The man's voice has changed through age and personal battles but he's still as powerful and downright evil as ever. He has lost none of his gravitas over the years and whether he was shredding Cody ("you're going to let that little punk son of a b*tch get you down to crying?") or putting his own battles over, he nailed it.
The big thing coming out of this is that it looks like Cody will now be going up against a fresh Roberts-managed client. Jake promised that a "dark side" would be coming to AEW, telling Cody to bring "that one-trick pony" Arn Anderson. Lance Archer? Brodie Lee? Whatever happens, we trust the process to deliver.
Roberts' best line came last. "A wise man told me to never turn his back on someone I respect or who I'm afraid of," he said, immediately turning his back on 'The Nightmare' on the way out, because Jake 'The Snake' Roberts is just the best at this sh*t, lads.
A 10/10 start to this storyline.