2022 WRESTLERS LEAVING COMPANIES THREAD (Releases, FAs, etc...)

[Zakk_Sabbath]

1 minute ago, paintedbynumbers said:

I don't believe Vince owns those tapes.  I had a conversation with Lawler right before Covid hit, thinking summer 2019  and I wanted to see about getting all of the USWA on the network. Long story short, Lawler believed that Vince didn't own any Footage from Florida or Oregon.  He said something happened with the Stampede footage and was told to pull any of that as well.  I haven't watched much of the Network (i hate the peacock app)  so Lawler and I could be wrong. 

 

I do recall the Stampede part being true from when I had it, a bunch of stuff disappeared from some collection of Bret matches

[For Great Justice]

I think Cody really quit but I don’t think WWE is the play. It’s going to be I Hate Steven Singer American Nightmare Wrestling Champion Cody Rhodes, sponsored by BlueChew. Card next Thursday in Alpharetta.

Edited February 15, 2022 by For Great Justice

[Cobra Commander]

So Cody Rhodes vs Stone Cold Steve Austin errrr Kevin Owens at Wrestlemania?

[Curt McGirt]

Someone on here in the Discord said "GCW bound" and I can definitely see him and Cardona running roughshod over the indies until WWE comes up with a figure.

[Sublime]

3 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

So Cody Rhodes vs Stone Cold Steve Austin errrr Kevin Owens at Wrestlemania?

They will try to make Austins big return match (if these rumors are true) into a Austin/Owens/Cody three-way and then Steve will just walk out on them again.

[For Great Justice]

1 minute ago, Curt McGirt said:

Someone on here in the Discord said "GCW bound" and I can definitely see him and Cardona running roughshod over the indies until WWE comes up with a figure.

I don’t know. At what point does GCW just go too far off brand with yet another “he doesn’t belong here” invader? I mean at some point you are just going to a show with Matt Cardona, Jeff Jarrett and Cody Rhodes on it.

[RIPPA]

On 2/14/2022 at 11:26 AM, RIPPA said:

Regarding the Ryker - he really is gonna be a perfect signing for Control The Narrative folks

Just gonna amend that to Cody Rhodes too

[Cobra Commander]

Would it be too on the nose for Ted DiBiase to introduce Cody’s WWE return with the phrase “everybody has a price”?

[Zakk_Sabbath]

TMZ has picked up the story now:

https://www.tmz.com/2022/02/15/cody-brandi-rhodes-leave-all-elite-wrestling/

[Krone]

 

[Dolfan in NYC]

28 minutes ago, paintedbynumbers said:

This has to be a swerve.  All of the badmouthing he has done publicly going over the top to throw shade at HHH, the WWE not giving him the titles of gimmicks/shows  his dad created/etc.    If he were to go back it would look bad on him. The guy who trashed the company and built something better only to leave and crawl back.  Doesn't sound right to me.

Two things:

1) As it's been said, this is Tony's company.  If he and Cody don't see eye to eye on something, Tony's probably going to be the one to make the final call.  

2) "Crawl back" makes Cody sound like he has no agency in this.  By all indications, he rejected AEW's final best offer and is now a free agent.  If, and that's a *massive* if at this point, he returns to WWE it's because he's cashing in.  I really doubt he'll pick them solely because no one else wants him.  

[Wyld Samurai]

Billy Corgan finally gets Rhodes vs Aldis III

[Cobra Commander]

Hey, that “WWE desperate to bring in someone to get some buzz for Wrestlemania” rumor might be relevant, right?

[KidNatural]

34 minutes ago, paintedbynumbers said:

I don't believe Vince owns those tapes.  I had a conversation with Lawler right before Covid hit, thinking summer 2019  and I wanted to see about getting all of the USWA on the network. Long story short, Lawler believed that Vince didn't own any Footage from Florida or Oregon.  He said something happened with the Stampede footage and was told to pull any of that as well.  I haven't watched much of the Network (i hate the peacock app)  so Lawler and I could be wrong. 

 

When WWE did 24/7 they had random FCW episodes hosted by Mike Graham. They do not have Oregon for sure, but may own Florida.

 

[Craig H]

2 hours ago, ChesterCopperpot said:

Pardon

 

What a fucking idiot.

[Craig H]

On the bright side though, no more Brandi Rhodes shitting up literally every appearance she's ever made save that one time she came out to try to stop Brodie from killing Cody.

[Cobra Commander]

42 minutes ago, paintedbynumbers said:

He said something happened with the Stampede footage and was told to pull any of that as well

Bret Hart has various rights with his matches on Stampede and if he’s not going along then there’s probably not a lot of Stampede to post.

I’d heard that Memphis ran without a copyright notice for awhile in the 80s meaning the stuff could legally be public domain (please consult an attorney before you try making money off of that) and Florida does stick out for not being on the network but idk if there’s some sort of rights complication or source footage problem.

[Zakk_Sabbath]

1 minute ago, Craig H said:

On the bright side though, no more Brandi Rhodes shitting up literally every appearance she's ever made save that one time she came out to try to stop Brodie from killing Cody.

If this ends up not being a work, part of me wonders if TK may have put his foot down about Brandi being on TV after that very confusing Lambert segment a few weeks back, thus driving the decision to leave. Again, a lot of ifs.

[Guest]

Spoiler

Cody comes back under a mask and pins Page for the AEW World title. How hard would you mark?

Or he signs a Turner contract and works for AEW, like some of those old Turner contracts WCW guys had for WCW.

 

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

We're keeping the good one!

I will just assume it's not a work and he's going to WWE. Did the Codyverse add a wrinkle to AEW that made it more interesting? Maybe, but I'm not sure I'll really miss it. And not that I watch much WWE these days, but I can see someone thinking there's a spot for him at or near the top of the card. 

Of course, Low Ki was very much the heart and soul of ROH.....then it became CM Punk. 20 years later, only one of the names has changed.

[Kang]

 

[Cobra Commander]

Guessing there isn’t enough time to logically do this (a tradition among big Wrestling jumps [Hart to WCW just before Hogan/Sting, WWF buying WCW the week before Wrestlemania]) but…

Someone takes out Riddle at Saudimania on Saturday. Opening a spot in the Elimination Chamber. Then Cody Rhodes shows up in Jeddah to beat Lashley for the title (with a side item of Reigns luring Lesnar away)

Orton and Cody interact next Monday, only for Riddle to reveal that Cody was the one who jumped Riddle. And then we get Cody vs Lashley vs Orton vs Riddle for some reason because every other match for the B World Title must have a bunch of dudes in it.

[Jenalysis]

Being the first AEW to WWE guy would be a smart move, if you're a big enough name in AEW , and Cody is.

You're not going to get buried, because burying Cody in this case makes it harder to get future young AEW talent.  Cody is going to be treated as a top guy or very near the top if he comes back (most likely the latter- prob around Big E level at a minimum)

[nofuture]

Vince never saw Cody as a main eventer, I don't think he's going to magically change his mind nowadays.  Even if Cody comes in, I don't think you'd see him past an IC level guy and most likely him and Brandi feuding against Miz and Maryse.

[hobo joe]

Good riddance. I've been giving Cody waaaaay too much credit assuming his heel who thinks he's a babyface act was intentional or going anywhere. 

Unless it's a work, but then I still don't know where it's going and I still don't care. AEW doesn't need him anymore and he can take Jericho with him.