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

[RIPPA]

4 minutes ago, hammerva said:

I mean he isn't that wrong 

Hopefully the former Kalisto spelled his name correctly

[Hagan]

Dave hemming and hawing through diplomatic double-speak and Wade Keller basically saying "the thing with Cody is he has a bitch wife and is burning through money like his dad did" is tremendous. 

[Technico Support]

Yeah, Keller went all in on Brandi being the Yoko of the EVPs and Cody being a pain in the ass who wasn’t worth the money.  Essentially, Cody was hard to deal with and had dumb ideas but he drew ratings.  But once he wanted too much money, was being booed by the fans, and that Brandi segment went over like a fart in church, that was it.  

[supremebve]

12 minutes ago, Hagan said:

Dave hemming and hawing through diplomatic double-speak and Wade Keller basically saying "the thing with Cody is he has a bitch wife and is burning through money like his dad did" is tremendous. 

This has to be the most predictable take of all time.  I didn't know who was going to make it, I just knew that it was going to be made.  

[Just Dave]

7 hours ago, John from Cincinnati said:

Meltzer is the tastemaker who's helped make this all possible, and even he was throwing five stars at Cody mere weeks ago for a marquee match. I really think people are over-exaggerating how out-of-step Cody has been with what these people want. 

I wondered that too… until the second Atlanta Dynamite. The arena that show was held is legit ten minutes from his house and the fans in that arena could not have wanted to see him go over Andrade less. When he stopped getting big babyface reactions in his hometown, where his dad had some iconic matches, he should’ve known then. The lack of self awareness to think “oh, it’s just like Cena,” rather than “these people are sick of this bullshit, time to mix it up a bit” is pretty staggering. 
 

At the end of the day, I think Cody wanted to be a big fish in a pond he helped dig. I remember a couple years ago when someone asked him a question in those post ppv scrums about “what big star would you like to see come to AEW next?” And Cody responded with “we already have that guy, It’s Jon Moxley.”  That was probably more telling than we could’ve realized at the time about how Cpdy saw AEW as opposed to his evp peers.

Edited February 16, 2022 by just drew

[hammerva]

18 minutes ago, Hagan said:

Dave hemming and hawing through diplomatic double-speak and Wade Keller basically saying "the thing with Cody is he has a bitch wife and is burning through money like his dad did" is tremendous. 

And you know who REALLY didn't like this take.  Amanda Huber.   Those are going to be awkward AEW meetings  

[supremebve]

5 minutes ago, hammerva said:

And you know who REALLY didn't like this take.  Amanda Huber.   Those are going to be awkward AEW meetings  

It's a completely unnecessary cheap shot.  It's 100% fine not to like Brandi, or to disagree with any and everything she's ever done in wrestling, but calling her a bitch and placing the blame of her husband's exodus at her feet is obvious misogyny.  If the only thing you can say about why they left AEW is, "his wife is a money wasting bitch," you should probably say nothing.  

[Gordi the former AEW fan]

Fuck Wade Keller. That piece of shit lost all credibility when he allowed baseless speculation about John Huber's death to get posted on his site. Why would anybody ever care what that douche has to say about anything?  

Edited February 16, 2022 by Gordlow

[Hagan]

Didn't Cody and Brandy go on that weird podcast tour after the infamous December 2019 Dynamite when Tony took control of the book totally away from the EVPs? I remember they did a weirdly defensive tour. 

I mean, obviously very little with Brandi worked with the exception of her as Cody's second. Punting her for Arn never really made a sense as they were stronger together and the Arn thing never really fit. 

Also, just to clarify, Wade didn't call her a bitch. I was making a joke because he definitely buried the fuck out of her on the pod. Just didn't want anyone to think he (or I) for that matter was using that term. But the implication is, as Technico said, that she's the Yoko of the story. 

[Swift]

10 hours ago, username said:

I feel like I'm the only one to read this one bit from the big Meltzer write-up

 

 

A lot of people are writing up how this is Cody's call or how he was demanding "Roman money" and this reads like he was basically offered either a pay cut or "demotion" of some degree (perhaps less freedom with his own angles?) and after a lot of negotiating wouldn't agree to it. I don't know Meltzer's sources but if he's not wrong if seems like if Tony Khan wanted Cody in AEW with the exact same contract he had it seems like he'd still be there.

I think another thing pointing to it not being Cody's decision is that he, being a son of a Booker, would've wanted to leave the company as part of an angle.

Imagine how fun it would've been for Rhodes to renege on his no championship shot promise and demand a shot against Hangman with the stipulation that he leaves the company if he can't get the job done. Nobody would actually believe he would leave the company so the fans would think he's definitely putting himself over. The heat would've been volcanic.

[Hagan]

2 hours ago, RIPPA said:

Also - and this was another point Meltzer brought up - if Cody goes to the WWE and isn't booked strongly, that sends a message to future AEW guys thinking about jumping to WWE (Dave specifically named MJF and Wardlow as guys the WWE definitely wants to target)

It's a fair point but it also speaks to that WWE's notion of booking strongly a lot different than most rational people. Brock, Roman, Charlotte  and Becky are booked strong, as in they just win and wrestle in main events. Can Cody break into that level? 

However, this company also thinks that they book Big E, Bianca, Drew and Rollins well and all four have had some serious missteps over the last few years (maybe not Drew but feels like his main event window has closed).  

 

[Zimbra]

3 hours ago, The Natural said:

 

I want to see them redo the Glacier/Sonny Onoo angle and have Mark Sterling sell Cody's gimmick to, like, Wheeler Yuta or Serpentico and have him do the whole entrance with elevator and goofy coat before he gets squashed by Kyle O'Reilly or whatever.

[chriskbrown50]

Sometimes in life you over play your hand. Cody may have well done this. That seat on The Big Show - Jericho would fit into that nicely. Reality show - boy Sammy and Tay Conti are mega popular on social media today. 

[NikoBaltimore]

You know, there's worse things than the possibility of a reality show featuring them.  Their respective families appear to be wacky, you have two incredibly good-looking people, and if they're themselves it can be pretty entertaining.  Plus it'd be a good test to see how long a husband can see Tay on a reality show without the wife going "Stop staring at her!"  Then again same can be said about wives and Sammy but I digress.

So TK if you're reading this I think @chriskbrown50might be onto something here.

[Just Dave]

1 hour ago, Zimbra said:

I want to see them redo the Glacier/Sonny Onoo angle and have Mark Sterling sell Cody's gimmick to, like, Wheeler Yuta or Serpentico and have him do the whole entrance with elevator and goofy coat before he gets squashed by Kyle O'Reilly or whatever.

Shit, KOR should be at the front of the line to buy those gimmicks. That dude could not be less interesting…

[John from Cincinnati]

2 hours ago, just drew said:

I wondered that too… until the second Atlanta Dynamite. The arena that show was held is legit ten minutes from his house and the fans in that arena could not have wanted to see him go over Andrade less. When he stopped getting big babyface reactions in his hometown, where his dad had some iconic matches, he should’ve known then. The lack of self awareness to think “oh, it’s just like Cena,” rather than “these people are sick of this bullshit, time to mix it up a bit” is pretty staggering. 
 

At the end of the day, I think Cody wanted to be a big fish in a pond he helped dig. I remember a couple years ago when someone asked him a question in those post ppv scrums about “what big star would you like to see come to AEW next?” And Cody responded with “we already have that guy, It’s Jon Moxley.”  That was probably more telling than we could’ve realized at the time about how Cpdy saw AEW as opposed to his evp peers.

I recall A LOT of people pretending people's view of Cena back in the day was predominantly "sick of this bullshit, time to mix it up." I know it's been a long time and people's perceptions of events change, but it's not as different a phenomenon from Cody as you're presenting. And you have the added advantage that Cody isn't the literal top face right now, so the wave is more rideable and carries less risk than a Cena situation. I still see no reason to believe the only direction was "mix it up."

As for a guy being cagey about potential additions to the company and hyping up people who are already there, I think you're reading into a pretty standard nothing-burger answer. 

[Just Dave]

33 minutes ago, NikoBaltimore said:

You know, there's worse things than the possibility of a reality show featuring them.  Their respective families appear to be wacky, you have two incredibly good-looking people, and if they're themselves it can be pretty entertaining.  Plus it'd be a good test to see how long a husband can see Tay on a reality show without the wife going "Stop staring at her!"  Then again same can be said about wives and Sammy but I digress.

So TK if you're reading this I think @chriskbrown50might be onto something here.

Don’t forget, you also have Dylan Walsh’s kid dating a former teen ms. Georgia (I’m pretty sure) you could go to, too…

[Death From Above]

1 hour ago, Zimbra said:

I want to see them redo the Glacier/Sonny Onoo angle and have Mark Sterling sell Cody's gimmick to, like, Wheeler Yuta or Serpentico and have him do the whole entrance with elevator and goofy coat before he gets squashed by Kyle O'Reilly or whatever.

Such a shame they let Peter Avalon go because The American Nightmare Peter Avalon would instantly be the best thing on TV.

[Go2Sleep]

9 hours ago, John from Cincinnati said:

Meltzer is the tastemaker who's helped make this all possible, and even he was throwing five stars at Cody mere weeks ago for a marquee match. I really think people are over-exaggerating how out-of-step Cody has been with what these people want. 

His in-ring work is the least of his problems fitting in. It's the tone of all his (presumably) self-written angles being incongruous with everything else on the show. Too much worked-shooting, no clear direction for any of his programs, going over in feuds that he shouldn't. Pretty much everything he's been involved with since he went over Brodie has felt off and hurt the flow of the overall show.

[JohnnyJ]

I looked at the rejection of Cody as this weird divide that developed between the early stars of the promotion and where the promotion is today. You could argue that Cody, Jericho and the Bucks all hit their ceiling in the promotion. There are up and comers behind them and more exciting acts in front of them. It's a very strange position and what does a promotion do with these types? They are so identified with the promotion, but if they left tomorrow,  it is hard to see how it would have an effect on viewer engagement or the bottom line. 

 

 

[Zimbra]

5 minutes ago, Death From Above said:

Such a shame they let Peter Avalon go because The American Nightmare Peter Avalon would instantly be the best thing on TV.

The other Wingmen all coming through the regular entrance and having to wait for his slow-ass elevator.

[Technico Support]

Cody could have been an amazing white meat babyface — see his original angle vs the Inner Circle.  But he read too many comic books and got ideas for shit nobody wanted to see.  He’s not Dusty or Flair.  He’s Jim Hellwig.  Lost in his own sauce for so long that he made himself irrelevant, unnecessary, and, really, a liability.  Good riddance.  

Now I know how Heenan felt when Hogan turned!  

Edited February 16, 2022 by Technico Support

[NikoBaltimore]

13 minutes ago, just drew said:

Don’t forget, you also have Dylan Walsh’s kid dating a former teen ms. Georgia (I’m pretty sure) you could go to, too…

Yeah, that is true but they're the first to admit that they're generally pretty shy.  Heck, Anna even brought that up on Thunder Rosa's taco vlog not too long ago.  For a reality show there needs to be lots of charisma to maintain interest and I think Sammy and Tay would work quite well.

Yes, I know this is about Cody leaving but with everything just happening I'd rather see how things play out instead of speculating everything.  So while y'all do that I'll just be here thinking about wacky scenarios for this show.  And I agree on Jericho being a suitable replacement for Go Big Show.  The show's fine enough but it almost doesn't matter who's a judge.  If you're going to need somebody from AEW then might as well be him.

Edited February 16, 2022 by NikoBaltimore

[Matt D]

Just put Paul Wight on the stupid game show already.

[Brandon Bones]

11 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Just put Paul Wight on the stupid game show already.

I’ve liked this post on behalf of Jerry McDevitt.