5 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (March 30)
3. Cody Cuts The Promo Of The Year
Cody's old WWE theme song, 'Smoke and Mirrors', summed up his Independent career quite neatly.
That is no criticism; by portraying himself as a humble ex-WWE talent determined to reinvent himself on the independent scene proving ground, Cody has insidiously reinvented himself further as the besuited, white-haired don of it. Put over by a Machiavellian character arc in which he has rotted the Bullet Club from within, there was nonetheless a certain mendacity about the whole thing. Prior to this year, Cody never wrestled the impossible-to-dispute brilliant wrestling match such a role demanded.
When was the work going to pay off? When was Cody going to become, genuinely, the star he markets himself as?
That was the case until he fell to Kota Ibushi at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12, in a dramatic, sensational war crammed with great character moments. Then, doing the press rounds following his tag team triumph at Strong Style Evolved, at which he was super-over, Cody dripped charisma in an improvisational tour de force of comedy and conviction, in which he charmed the pants off all and sundry before brushing off Kenny Omega's Best In The World credentials because he only wrestles once per month. Then, in a proper "Oooh" moment that crucially didn't bury anybody in his own promotion, Cody claimed that he would be the best wrestler in the world if "he could practise his pay-per-view match at the Performance Center for eight weeks straight".
The guy who once played Stardust is now a genuine, bonafide player. Cody has become the star he markets himself as.