(Photo by SEScoops)
In 2017, a fan tweeted to Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer about if ROH or any Indie promotion would sell 10000 tickets, he responded, "Not any time soon." Cody Rhodes decided to "take that bet." Along with the Young Bucks, he assembled the "Elite" talent from the Indies and planned a show that could sell 10000 tickets and give the talent a platform on the big stage in the United States. They settled on the Sears Centre in Chicago on September 1, 2018. When tickets were available, they hoped that this gamble could pay off. The event sold out in 30 minutes with only one match announced. The show, now named All-In, was a success and became one of the most talked about pay-per-views of the year. This was also the seeds being planted for a revolution of the industry.
A couple months later, a plan was in motion to create a promotion after the success of the All-In show. Cody, the Bucks and Kenny Omega would lead this up-and-coming company as an alternative to the big company northeast. They found a financer who was a huge wrestling fan and had the deep pockets to execute. On January 1, 2019, AEW was born. Throughout the year, with Tony Khan as the owner, Rhodes and the Elite would be named EVP and they assembled talent for this new evolution of professional wrestling. They would get a television deal and AEW was off and running.
With WWE suffering through bad creative and subpar wrestling, AEW was the talk of the industry. Cody did what he couldn't even imagine, he stuck it to the big empire of WWE and made a name for himself and for the people who were not noticed by them. To his credit, Cody didn't go the Jeff Jarrett route and gave himself the AEW Championship. He worked hard to give the audience the match that they wanted to see. Rhodes saw AEW as his baby. Then his wife, Brandi, announced that she was pregnant with a baby. Cody's life was about to change.
It was around this time that Cody would be away from the ring and doing other interests. He was hosting game shows and had a reality show in the works. If you watched the segment with him and Paul Heyman, when they mentioned how Dusty struggled with money after his wrestling career ended. I get it now. My thinking is that Cody, as a new father, didn't want his daughter to go through that. Rhodes and the Elite would go their own way, despite them being EVP's. It also seemed as Tony Khan was being distant from Rhodes and leaning towards the Bucks, Omega and even Chris Jericho for the direction of the company. When the crowd wanted Cody to turn heel, he wasn't having it. The writing on the wall was coming soon.
On February 15, 2022, the wrestling community was stunned by the news of Cody and Brandi Rhodes' departure from AEW. The man who helped build the company from the ground up, the man who sacrificed himself in matches and the man who was willing to put over talent, was gone. Cody Rhodes is, once again, betting on himself. It seemed like he wanted more. We all know where he was going, if he wanted to continue wrestling. He wasn't going to get a big entrance in New Japan, Impact! or NWA. The question was, does that company even want him back?
Heading into WrestleMania 38, Seth Rollins was without an opponent and everyone was speculating that Cody was the guy. Even while Seth was waiting in the ring, people know that WWE has a tendency to pull the wool over the eyes of the "universe." But, the mystery opponent was about to appear. The entrance music begin as we awaited. As he emerged from the top of the stage, the AT&T Stadium crowd became unglued. I was cheering when I saw him. It had happened. THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE WAS BACK! Cody Rhodes had come home. He and Rollins would have a great match as Cody picked up the win. The buzz after the event continued as the wrestling community praised Cody. He and Rollins had another great encounter at Backlash with Rhodes getting another victory.
Then, came the one where it took both superstars to a stratosphere no one thought they could go. Cody and Seth will finish their rivalry at Hell In A Cell in that very match. Only one problem, Cody had suffered a torn pectoral muscle. Despite that, he was going to compete, knowing full well that he had a long rehab coming down the road. The match was an instant classic. Rhodes had a gigantic bruise on the right side of his body. You could see the pain in his face as he continued to compete. Once again, Cody bested Seth to conclude the trilogy. Also, kudos to Rollins for putting over Cody in those three matches. Even Dave Meltzer gave the match five stars. He doesn't do that for WWE for obvious reasons. Cody would return at the Royal Rumble and win the damn RR match. He is on pace to "finish the story" at WrestleMania 39 against Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Universal Championship.
In under a decade, Cody Rhodes has amassed what most wrestlers couldn't do in their entire career. He reinvented himself to become an Indie legend, helped start a promotion that rivaled the big cats up north, came back to that promotion with open arms and is set to compete in the main event of the company's biggest show.
Cody Rhodes has always bet on himself. So far, he has been successful.
(Sources: Wikipedia, Bleacher Report, SEScoops, Wrestling Observer, Sports Illustrated, WWE, AEW, WrestlingNews.co, The Sportster, Wrestle Talk)
(For more content, check out our Facebook page, our website www.realsportsaz.com and the Wix mobile app)
Comentarios