Cody Rhodes: 10 Legacy Moments In AEW
4. Flaming Tables
Towards the end of 2021, Cody was struggling to connect with the fans. Like many babyfaces, fans just didn’t find him cool anymore. They didn’t want to cheer for him, no matter what he did. The heel turn was requested and never really happened to compound the frustration.
At one point it did look like Cody was trying anything in order to get cheered, but nothing would work, so why not take a page out of the bible of the extreme and go for that “Holy S&%t” spot? This is what happened in December 2021 as Cody took on Andrade El Idolo.
Before aligning himself with Matt Hardy and trying to acquire the services of Darby Allin, Andrade El Idolo was seemingly treading some water in AEW. Coming into this match it had the potential to raise the profile of both - especially the former NXT Champion. Even though the match was billed as an Atlanta Street Fight, no one saw the final spot coming.
Both talents had introduced tables to the ring and as the pair fought in the corner, Brandi Rhodes slipped into the ring and lit one of those tables up! Cod proceeded to perform an inverted suplex on El Idolo through the table in a visually spectacular moment. However, it didn’t quite go as intended. El Idolo pretty much missed the table and Rhodes took the full brunt of the flames. It looked as if Cody was ready beforehand as the flame retardant gel could be seen on his back in the match, yet he got some nasty burns and no more cheers.