NikoBaltimore Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 12 hours ago, just drew said: At this point the Elite guys can kind of be viewed like George Lucas after the sale to Disney. Nice to have around, but not at all necessary to the sustained success of the brand. With respect to your views on the Elite I do have one minor thing here. Star Wars was incredibly established in pop culture for decades and got so huge that no matter who ran it as long as they didn't shit the bed then the brand can easily carry on. Same with WWE to a degree where because it's been a thing for so long Vince can retire and the brand will still be just fine. But AEW is only shy of four years old and big changes in personnel can sink the brand before it has a chance to be established. That's assuming with how niche everything is that it can even get to that level. I mean yeah I get it you don't like their wrestling. I personally do. But if either or all of them leave then the brand will be so different from when it started that it could put things into chaos. If they're able to keep things going and even build more success through the years then it'll be a different story. But for now they're essential to the company. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphman 3000 Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 5 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said: But AEW is only shy of four years old and big changes in personnel can sink the brand before it has a chance to be established. That's assuming with how niche everything is that it can even get to that level. I mean yeah I get it you don't like their wrestling. I personally do. But if either or all of them leave then the brand will be so different from when it started that it could put things into chaos. If they're able to keep things going and even build more success through the years then it'll be a different story. But for now they're essential to the company. TNA in 2005 had the X-Division, young Stars and a ton of momentum. And they capitalized on that by...making the young talent mad by stopping them from working ROH, fiending for WWE's table scraps, and putting over aging stars. And then 4 years later Dixie ran one last "thanks for the memories" pay per view highlighting younger talent before Hogan and Bischoff took over and they fully committed to nostalgia. Christopher Daniels went from the main event to a jobber overnight. You either commit to the talent that brought you to the dance, or else there's going to be resentment and the "pillars" will leave. No one ever thought AJ Styles would leave TNA, but welp. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 TNA is a good example of what happens when things go off the rails when they haven't been around for too long. Though honestly I don't know if even they knew what they wanted to be either. It's almost kind of sad that they're apparently putting out good stuff yet not that many seem to care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Meltzer on video said the AEW investigation is wrapping up. Could see the Elite back soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Dave Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 49 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said: With respect to your views on the Elite I do have one minor thing here. Star Wars was incredibly established in pop culture for decades and got so huge that no matter who ran it as long as they didn't shit the bed then the brand can easily carry on. Same with WWE to a degree where because it's been a thing for so long Vince can retire and the brand will still be just fine. But AEW is only shy of four years old and big changes in personnel can sink the brand before it has a chance to be established. That's assuming with how niche everything is that it can even get to that level. I mean yeah I get it you don't like their wrestling. I personally do. But if either or all of them leave then the brand will be so different from when it started that it could put things into chaos. If they're able to keep things going and even build more success through the years then it'll be a different story. But for now they're essential to the company. I guess I don’t get the sense in any of the wrestling fandom corners of the Internet that I frequent that anyone would stop watching if Omega & the Bucks left. Things in AEW might change further, but I’m not sure they’re in any danger of chaos. Their leadership is solidified. They’ve got a bevy of young stars ready to elevate. They’ve got guys like Wardlow saying in interviews that Mox, Dragon & Jericho have “brought everyone close together” in the locker room. I can’t think of a single thing the AEW product would be missing if the Bucks and Omega left. In fact, it’d probably create room in the budget to bring in some more womens talent and do some other interesting things… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 I doubt i'd be tuning in every week if the elite were gone permanently so there's at least one. I'd probably just watch segments with guys i like on youtube or something. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 I don't know that I'd quit watching entirely, but there's no doubt there would be a pretty seismic shift in the show itself in certain aspects. It's almost indescribable to a certain degree, but think about ECW circa 2000: it just sort of didn't *feel* the same without Taz and the Dudleys and Shane Douglas and so forth. Hell, I'll admit the show feels different even since Cody's departure (not bad, I must stress - different.) 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLowe Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) I like The Bucks fine but I feel like the tag division is plenty strong without them. On the other hand, they are a team who doesn't really need a belt to be over and have heat. I like Omega a lot and I was excited when he came back as I feel like he adds one more true star to the main event picture. If they're gone, I won't stop watching because I mostly like what they have going on now with BCC, Acclaimed, Wardlow, FTR, JAS (way better than Inner Circle). If only I could get less Penta... Edited October 25, 2022 by JLowe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 The show only feels different with Cody gone because now there are no more Cody-verse segments that feel disconnected from everything else and are in their own bubble. And I don't think the Bucks or Omega are leaving. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphman 3000 Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Matt Jackson has said he wants to retire by 40, and I don't see him throwing away a cushy office job Now if Nick wants to leave and do a singles run elsewhere in a couple years since he's younger, that's another story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 42 minutes ago, Blue Dragon said: Meltzer on video said the AEW investigation is wrapping up. Could see the Elite back soon. Seemed like speculation at best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 I much prefer All Wrestling to AEW. But I do like Elevation lowcard Cutler. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuntmanCrowley Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 I absolutely want to second the fact that while I'm not a huge fan of the Bucks, their big matches are unbelievable. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Cincinnati Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 While the Codyverse is a funny concept, it's become too widely accepted that Cody was in a bubble. He wasn't. He was doing his own stuff just like everyone else, and like most segments of the show it was immediately moved on from once it was over. The only reason people look at it like a bubble is because one week he was booked in a War Games match with the Elite, and the next he was conspicuously not and had never interacted with those people on-screen again. But I'm not sure a lack of interaction with Omega and the Bucks qualifies as being in a bubble. If that were the standard, Punk was in a bubble, Miro's been in a bubble, Malakai's been in a bubble, Wardlow's been in a bubble, Ethan Page and Brian Cage have been in bubbles. I guess Darby and Sting briefly got out of their bubble and got to work with the Bucks at Forbidden Door. Maybe Starks and Hobbs were in a bubble until they got to take the fall in the Bucks' last title loss. But I think the bubble talk is overblown. Cody was as connected other parts of the show as most people were. He just wasn't connected to his former stablemates. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Log Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 56 minutes ago, Matt D said: I much prefer All Wrestling to AEW. But I do like Elevation lowcard Cutler. If they do part ways with Omega and The Bucks, they need to do a "Last Survivor from The Elite" angle with Cutler. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
For Great Justice Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) Just my opinion, but while every segment of AEW TV is largely in its own bubble from a production standpoint, Cody’s (and, by extension, Brandi’s) were also in a bubble with respect to the laws of nature and accepted physics of the promotion. Like the racism promo as an example was just so completely out of left field. Not to say that other promos since then haven’t been (Punk going off on Hangman as an example), but that’s my view of it. Edited October 25, 2022 by For Great Justice 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Cincinnati Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 (edited) Abrupt, out-of-left-field, maybe overly-ambitious concepts haven't just been in Cody's orbit, which you pretty much allude to. While the degrees of success were different, Le Dinner Debonair is just as much of a head-scratcher. I recall some people getting absolutely t-boned by MJF's first "Jew boy" promo after he was portrayed for so long as one-dimensional. I'm not sure which "laws of nature or "accepted physics" that Cody violated that nobody else does on a semi-regular basis. Heck, as egregious and indulgent as the gender reveal was, didn't they air Sammy's proposal on Dynamite? The show is filled with all kinds of weird non-sequiturs and abrupt shifts, independent of the person who's been most often accused of being incongruous with the rest of the programming. Edited October 25, 2022 by John from Cincinnati 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawful Metal Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 When I think of Cody being in a bubble I think of him and Brandi trying to do babyface promos in the face of everyone hating them. Cody had Bo Dallas'd himself but for real, apparently. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Cincinnati Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 6 minutes ago, Lawful Metal said: When I think of Cody being in a bubble I think of him and Brandi trying to do babyface promos in the face of everyone hating them. Cody had Bo Dallas'd himself but for real, apparently. "For real." Spoiler I'm just gonna bookmark this because I think I might get a lot of use out of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakk_Sabbath Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Seems a bit ret-conny of Cody to my eyes, but if he is, in fact, sincere (which I suppose we really have no true way of knowing at this juncture) then I'm more than happy to admit I was wrong back then, especially given the events of the last month or two. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chriskbrown50 Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 AEW needed the Bucks and Omega at the beginning. I am convinced AEW could use both (mainly Omega) now but is fine without them. the eventual MJF-Wardlow AEW title match, unfinished business if you will, can write itself in 2023. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 1 hour ago, John from Cincinnati said: While the Codyverse is a funny concept, it's become too widely accepted that Cody was in a bubble. He wasn't. He was doing his own stuff just like everyone else, and like most segments of the show it was immediately moved on from once it was over. The only reason people look at it like a bubble is because one week he was booked in a War Games match with the Elite, and the next he was conspicuously not and had never interacted with those people on-screen again. But I'm not sure a lack of interaction with Omega and the Bucks qualifies as being in a bubble. If that were the standard, Punk was in a bubble, Miro's been in a bubble, Malakai's been in a bubble, Wardlow's been in a bubble, Ethan Page and Brian Cage have been in bubbles. I guess Darby and Sting briefly got out of their bubble and got to work with the Bucks at Forbidden Door. Maybe Starks and Hobbs were in a bubble until they got to take the fall in the Bucks' last title loss. But I think the bubble talk is overblown. Cody was as connected other parts of the show as most people were. He just wasn't connected to his former stablemates. He beefed with QT Marshall and Anthony Ogogo for what felt like an entire year (probably closer to six months). He then moved on to the Andrade, Pac, Black bubble. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Cincinnati Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 2 minutes ago, Jiji said: He beefed with QT Marshall and Anthony Ogogo for what felt like an entire year (probably closer to six months). He then moved on to the Andrade, Pac, Black bubble. If Penta and Jade and FTR and Dante Martin can enter the bubble, I just don't see how he's any more isolated than just about everyone else on these shows. He just stopped being close with some people, and the audience at large experienced that in a way which is out of sync with how they experience everything else on these shows. The Codyverse was more a narrative about the handful of people he wasn't interacting with anymore rather than a firm reality. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphman 3000 Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 Cody gave an interview a few years ago where he made some comment like "when I first met Brandi I told her I didn't see color, and I learned how ignorant that was of me since by saying that I diminished her struggle" and I was really impressed But then he turned his marriage into a prop - like, dude, yeah you're in a interracial relationship and have a beautiful wife - but who is mad about that? He cut the promo about his kid in front of a loving and supportive crowd, so it was very out of left field. Maybe he had been hurt recently and needed to vent, but there's better ways to channel that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLowe Posted October 25, 2022 Share Posted October 25, 2022 40 minutes ago, John from Cincinnati said: If Penta and Jade and FTR and Dante Martin can enter the bubble, I just don't see how he's any more isolated than just about everyone else on these shows. He just stopped being close with some people, and the audience at large experienced that in a way which is out of sync with how they experience everything else on these shows. The Codyverse was more a narrative about the handful of people he wasn't interacting with anymore rather than a firm reality. Have you not seen the complaints about HoB-DT running forever, and how stale Jade's angle is? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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