It's unfortunate for Cody, but I think the success of his creation doomed his chances of maintaining a top spot. They were successful enough in their first year and a half that CM Punk came out of a 7 year hiatus where he pretty much said "fukk wrestling" to join them full time. Given their success, if you're TK, you have to ask yourself whether it's worth it to pay Cody top dollar (and Brandi for that matter) or use that money to either sign new talent or extend a couple younger talents. As I've said a few times, on The Coli, Cody segments were being shyt on pretty much since that one promo before the Ogogo match.
This.
I wasn't with the "rebook my career in fantasy mode" redux, I didn't even really dig him vs. Dustin, and the Rhodes name was unanimously attached to the worst TV segments in AEW history...
...but he was very solid filler for AEW's infancy, that deserves some respect.
He was never Top 15, though.
Still - he made too many WWE references, overrelied on the the theatrics, and refused to acknowledge when people thought him and his wife were indulgent.
That said, he piggybacked the fukk out of the Elite, and milked their fanbase as much as his blatantly inauthentic ass could. He had no business in NJPW, did Juice Robinson no favors, and I still can't stand he made Omega/Ibushi a triple threat.
glad you put it that way
