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

RIPPA

By RIPPA
in The PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING

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Pete

Pete

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, christopher.annino said:

I don't see this hurting AEW, when they have exactly the kind of roster their fans wanna see. I don't see it helping WWE, where all that matters is THE BRAND~!! I'm only seeing this help Cody and Brandi in the income department. C'est la vie. 

Anyway, Dynamite should be interesting...

And here we thought this week's Acclaimed rap would be about GLAAD and the forbidden door.

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SirSmUgly

SirSmUgly

Posted
Posted
51 minutes ago, Hagan said:

So - the question is how much does this hurt AEW and how much does this help WWE? 

On the hurting AEW side - it's definitely a big perception hit. This was a guy that helped launch the company. A year ago this would have been a bigger deal but AEW has brought in bigger names so that cushions the blow. Perception can go a long way, though. It also begs the question of AEW's budget, which Meltzer seems to be banging the drum on. How willing will they be to get into bidding wars over the next few years for their top guys? When it comes to a pure money transaction WWE going to always win. This isn't a big issue now but in a few years with MJF/Page/Baker etc. it becomes a larger issue. 

On the helping WWE side. He'll pop a rating for three weeks and then he won't matter as a draw. Edge peaked higher than Cody ever did in WWE and meant little after three weeks. No one full-time is any sort of factor except for Roman. They're all cogs in the machine. 

Here's the question - would WWE see signing Cody as being a bigger deal than Edge coming back? Look at how Edge's run has gone (mostly underwhelming and he's not really factored into Mania main event plans it seems).  It's just...there is a very long history of WWE signing stars from other companies and either they don't think they are stars because they came from the 'minor leagues' or they have to lose to show the other side was inferior. As I said in a prior post, best case is that Cody gets booked as well as Owens and Rollins. 

So, in summation, this hurts AEW perception-wise in the short-term and potentially has long-term significance about how willing they'll be to give raises on contract negotiation. Jericho's situation going to be interesting soon as his deal has to be up and WWE would definitely pay him more to come back than AEW would to stay, you'd think. 

For WWE - short-term it juices Mania and may help that show pick up steam but by SummerSlam he'll be in the McIntyre/Big E/Rollins/Owens mix of guys who main event when the real stars aren't around and exist to be fed to them when they are.  

Great post. 

Re: keeping stars, AEW seems to have the trust of its audience and there is an abundance of talent out there. Their job will be to get that talent over. They can outbid the minnows underneath them for prime talent. If they can credibly build talent consistently, they will be fine.

Re: WWE, this does nothing for them until their presentation and booking of non-Reigns, non-Lesnar talent changes, and it shows no signs of changing in the near future from what I pick up here. 

Re: Jericho, when I used to play EWR, I'd always take over a smaller company, like Pro Wrestling Iron, and sign a vet who had charisma and could work - Scott Hall and Marc Mero were my go-to guys. I'd get them on six-month contracts, have them come in and establish the big title before putting over the homegrown guy and seeing their way out of the company. Jericho is absolutely that, and before I stopped watching over a year ago, I thought that he had outstayed his welcome. AEW shouldn't bother to keep him around. 

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Raziel

Raziel

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Posted

Some of the takes here are amazing.  I don't care for the Dude, but if it weren't for him, none of these weekly bangers happen and Kenny and the Bucks spend the last 2 years working NJ Strong.  He is massively important for the company in more than an on air roll, but go on how this isn't a perception hit that one of the founders walked because the owner wouldn't pay him.

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SirSmUgly

SirSmUgly

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I don't think that "Cody was crucial to AEW getting off the ground" and "Cody isn't a huge loss for AEW in 2022 because of how they've built from that point" are amazing takes at all. They seem pretty reasonable!

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Hagan

Hagan

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Raziel said:

Some of the takes here are amazing.  I don't care for the Dude, but if it weren't for him, none of these weekly bangers happen and Kenny and the Bucks spend the last 2 years working NJ Strong.  He is massively important for the company in more than an on air roll, but go on how this isn't a perception hit that one of the founders walked because the owner wouldn't pay him.

But that’s what perception means. It’s optics that doesnt necessarily matter. It’s bad optics that WWE is having a swords are legal match in a country that beheads people but it doesn’t actually matter in the long run.

That’s the argument. If Cody wanted Roman  money and TK decided he didn’t want to pay that that’s just a business choice. Tom Brady left the Patriots. Lebron James left the Cavs. 
 

It’s a loss for the company but AEW has a lot of depth right now so they should be fine. 

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matt925

matt925

Posted
Posted

This can’t just be financial. A week and a half ago Cody was in a big match on tv and Brandi started/continued a new angle. Now they are suddenly both gone from the company. With the American heart association announcement, season 2 of the reality show exec produced by Tony, something went down. It’s too messy and complicated to just end like that. 
 

I’d also say this is a huge perception issue for aew, even if it’s the sum of the parts being more than the pieces themselves. They have tons of talent, they have star power, Cody and Brandi especially were not getting ideal reactions. So just losing the two of them as talent isn’t that big of a deal. 
 

But this is one of the founders of aew. He basically willed aew into existence in the couple years between leaving wwe and the start. Him and his wife were both front facing executives, even if their actual executive roles weren’t that substantial. And then suddenly…gone and likely showing up in wwe. 
 

Even if this won’t hurt aew long term, even if this won’t help wwe long term, it’s a pretty damn big deal. 

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Just Dave

Just Dave

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Posted

I’ve read a couple semi-trustworthy sources saying that this might’ve gotten contentious after Brandi’s borderline disastrous return. One of her segments lost some 300k viewers and TK (allegedly) told folks that it couldn’t continue that way.

 

Take it fwiw. I’ll see if I can find the source again.

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HumanChessgame

HumanChessgame

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Posted

I'm appreciative of Cody for everything he's done in helping create AEW and by all accounts he's a legitimately good person outside the ring. All the stories of him looking out for other guys who fell on hard times in ways that would never have happened in the WWE and all the charity work he's been involved in is great to hear and it always sounds like he's tried his best to ensure good backstage morale. He's a totally decent worker and has been in some great matches during his tenure. That said, pretty much everything he's done since the Ogogo feud has been increasingly cringeworthy. His forays into reality tv and game show hosting have just made it look like he's more interested in being a celebrity or actor instead of a wrestler, or some crossover star like Cena or Rock.

I have to wonder what kind of negotiations and contract stipulations he's putting in the works for his potential WWE contract. What sort of money is he able to command, and does he have some sort of provision about what kind of push or title run he's guaranteed? I also wonder what type of reaction he'll get when he shows up on a WWE show. I could see a smarkier audience booing the shit out of him. Or he could get a good initial pop then quickly fizzle out when he was never more than a midcarder there.

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DreamBroken

DreamBroken

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Posted

Cody was my favorite guy since day one here so this sucks. Very shocking. Sad to see him go, always enjoyed his matches/promos. Definitely a guy I never thought would go back to WWE and can't imagine how he'll be used there, but I hope it works out for him. I hope he gets to keep his theme music too. 

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JLowe

JLowe

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, just drew said:

I’ve read a couple semi-trustworthy sources saying that this might’ve gotten contentious after Brandi’s borderline disastrous return. One of her segments lost some 300k viewers and TK (allegedly) told folks that it couldn’t continue that way.

 

Take it fwiw. I’ll see if I can find the source again.

This was the post with the ratings from that Dynamite, it was over 200k at the top of the hour and even Punk-MJF couldn't get it back to where it was before that brutal segment: 

 

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DreamBroken

DreamBroken

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, L_W_P said:

No chance.

He'll comeback to "Smoke & Mirrors" and he'll smile for the people damn it!

I did love that theme too, but it fit best for the original Dashing Cody Rhodes (which didn't last as long as it should've!)

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Just Dave

Just Dave

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You know, he thinks he can act. It wouldn’t shock me if he does a big thing with Cardona & Aldis for the NWA Title, then goes and makes a movie or something while doing big time Indy shots with GCW and shit like that. Why would he believe anything Vince or Nicky Budgets tells him about the spot he’s coming in to?

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John E. Dynamite

John E. Dynamite

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, just drew said:

I’ve read a couple semi-trustworthy sources saying that this might’ve gotten contentious after Brandi’s borderline disastrous return. One of her segments lost some 300k viewers and TK (allegedly) told folks that it couldn’t continue that way.

 

Take it fwiw. I’ll see if I can find the source again.

I was wondering that earlier, if this isn't a really abrupt and harsh change of plans on Cody's behalf. Cody leaving now assumes that the reality show they're filming/filmed gets instantly canned, right? Cause why air it when you've got no cross-show synergy and instead are promoting a guy who's now working for a rival company? A company in WWE who have taken actions attempting to damage Warner Media's relationships w/ their advertisers after the Domino's & Rampage Bloodbath incidents?

But Chicago was harsh. Years of resentment towards bad Brandi segments being unleashed all at once. The most go-home heat I've heard on anybody in AEW history, and there's no reason to believe that Cody & Brandi aren't extremely self-conscious people. And the ratings tank on top of it. A conversation is had, an already jaded Cody gets hot, Tony doesn't feel like matching WWE's money, Cody... ruins a reality show, trashes his outreach project before it gets started, and possibly strands a bunch of the Nightmare Factory talent being featured on TV?  There's that. Or there's the conversation I've been trying to have all over the internet for the last year+ that nobody will entertain - Vince will overpay a major AEW star just to tarnish the company's image + morale, and to freak out TK into overpaying the talent he already has when they re-up. Since WWE's never had a thinner roster or more money to spend, maybe Cody was just offered an ungodly amount of money. I figured this was gonna happen to somebody at some point.  But either way, Cody jumping ship would make him look like a total asshole if just for abandoning his shows w/ Warner Media. That's a lot of production costs down the toilet. I'm surprised he can even contractually do this, if he does.

 

EDIT: Wrote this assuming RttT had been filming for awhile. Don't know where I got that from.

Edited by John E. Dynamite
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twiztor

twiztor

Posted
Posted (edited)

Cody's a former NWA Champ. Maybe he'll pad out his resume with a short Impact title run? ?

i'm pretty amused that nobody has even floated the idea of him cameoing in TNA.

Edited by twiztor
forgot the world "title". or should that be "championship opportunity"?
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NoFistsJustFlips

NoFistsJustFlips

Posted
Posted
16 minutes ago, HumanChessgame said:

I have to wonder what kind of negotiations and contract stipulations he's putting in the works for his potential WWE contract. What sort of money is he able to command, and does he have some sort of provision about what kind of push or title run he's guaranteed?

Just for the record this isn't a thing. WWE doesn't guarantee anyone any type of title run in writing. Neither does AEW either. The closest Vince gets is saying "I could see Cody Rhoads as the WWE Champion one day." That doesn't guarantee it. Just that he could see it happening if things go right. This isn't how contracts work. Even WCW didn't guarantee anyone a title run in a contract. Just doesn't happen. Contracts like that are just a fan creation.


As for the rest of the story, I'm not sure I get all the Brandi hate. I enjoyed her promos and shit talking. She was average at worst in the ring. Fine on the mic too. Just seems like sometimes popular opinion gets rolling and it just becomes a thing. Popular opinion is that Brandi is cringe and Cody's out of touch and all this. I feel like he & Tony both realize there's no immediate way to the popular opinion to turn so it's best for them to take a bit apart. Go sign a 3 year WWE deal and see where things are in 3 years. Does he become a top of the card champion in WWE? Does him making himself bigger there help AEW if he comes back 3 years down the line?

I think he'll go to WWE and be treated about how AJ is. He will get a main title run. He'll be protected and treated well. But he'll be the other show champ and never treated like a Reigns or Lesnar. So in the long run what's better for AEW? Let him go. Let the narrative change for him. Then see if you guys want a big shot in the arm home coming for him back to AEW in 2025. But I will admit this is a bit weird feeling. Because promotion wise he was positioned as the AEW flag bearer. Basically the Sting of WCW or Taker of WWE. And instead he's the first one out.

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SirSmUgly

SirSmUgly

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, Fartsauce said:

What will they name Cody? 

 

Jackson Daley? 

 

 

 

 

Virgil Wilkes. 

@NoFistsJustFlips: I heard about the Brandi "black bitch" thing and I don't even watch AEW. If that is representative of who she is on the mic, she needs to be off-screen forever. 

Edited by SirSmellingtonofCascadia
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