{"id":48446,"date":"2022-02-16T21:23:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-17T02:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/totfc.net\/?p=48446"},"modified":"2022-02-17T21:35:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T02:35:50","slug":"im-surprised-anyone-is-surprised-about-cody-rhodes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/?p=48446","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m surprised anyone is surprised about Cody Rhodes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"border-image alignnone wp-image-48447 \" src=\"http:\/\/totfc.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/stardust-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"530\" height=\"265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/totfc.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/stardust-1.jpg 560w, https:\/\/totfc.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/stardust-1-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The wrestling internet is abuzz right now with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cagesideseats.com\/aew\/2022\/2\/16\/22937536\/why-cody-brandi-rhodes-left-aew-money-power-creative-clash-backstage-perception-evpstony-khan\"><span class=\"s1\">the news that Cody Rhodes has left AEW<\/span><\/a>, just a few years after he basically helped launch the entire promotion from the ground up.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>And not just leaving AEW, but also tons of reports about how he\u2019s on the track to returning to the WWE, the promotion that AEW\u2019s cult-minded fans basically think is the antichrist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Initially, I thought that this could be the start of some elaborate work, but as the last few days have progressed, it\u2019s seemingly like it really is legitimate; unless this too is some Uber-meta working going on, designed to swerve all wrestling fans into oblivion, but as scuttlebutt keeps trickling, this is seemingly not likely.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">But when it really comes down to it, I have to say that I\u2019m more surprised that today\u2019s average wrestling fans are actually surprised by this at all.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>This is where I\u2019d like to think that I\u2019m wiser and smarter than today\u2019s wrestling fans which isn\u2019t saying that much but I did used to call myself <i>The Oracle<\/i> among my friends, based on how good I was at predicting wrestling bullshit, but the reality is that I\u2019ve just watched and witnessed a lot of professional wrestling in my lifetime, and there just seemed to be a lot of common patterns and scenarios, and on a long enough timeline, nothing is original or unique and history repeats itself all the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">When AEW started taking off, I actually made some predictions on which former WWE guys on the roster would eventually make their way back to WWE after some time in AEW.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Chris Jericho, for sure will be in a WWE ring again at some point in his career, as will guys like Shawn Spears, Mark Henry, Big Show, to name a few.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>But one guy I didn\u2019t hesitate one bit with was Cody Rhodes, regardless of his standing, position and contributions towards the creation of AEW.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">All it took was two episodes of <i>Dynamite<\/i>, and I stated to varying friends that I could 100% see Cody Rhodes going back to the WWE.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It was just a feeling I had, and maybe it was all the times I\u2019d seen Chris Jericho return to the WWE that fed this hunch, but I just knew that Cody would probably end up back in the WWE himself at some point, no matter how much he meant or accomplished with AEW.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The initial thought process was that in spite of the fact that Cody was a VP of the company, along with Kenny Omega, and Nick and Matt Jackson, the four of those wrestlers were very different personalities.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Whereas Cody clearly had a mind, hungry for the business side of the industry, Omega and Bucks were still too busy circle-jerking over inside jokes and spending way too much time trying to create YouTube content instead of running a company.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Eventually, these approaches to running AEW would clash and when it comes down to it, it\u2019s three versus one. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">There\u2019s been plenty of speculation about rifts and disagreements between the VPs of the company, as well as Tony Khan\u2019s stripping of power from all of them, and I basically said that a time would eventually come where Cody would get tired of all the bullshit of running a company, and would probably prefer to just be a performer, focus on wrestling and make WWE money in the process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">And here we are, just a few years removed from the birth of AEW, and Cody Rhodes has walked away, and appears to be on the fast track back to the WWE.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The thing about the WWE is that there is a 100% never-say-never attitude when it comes to talent returning to the fold.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>It doesn\u2019t matter how much anti-WWE shit a guy spews in another promotion, or if they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Hogan.jpg\">say racist shit<\/a> (Hulk Hogan), or even <a href=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2020\/08\/06\/22\/31645746-0-image-a-28_1596749401285.jpg\">admitting to incest and murder<\/a> (Marty Janetty), if a guy can bring interest, eyes, fans and money to the company, the WWE will open their arms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Cody Rhodes helping launch the WWE\u2019s most prominent rival since WCW has little bearing on the WWE\u2019s decision to bring him in, because Cody still won titles in the NWA, Ring of Honor, New Japan and AEW since his last departure from the company, so in the spirit of raising one\u2019s own stock and value, Cody has accomplished that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Sure, I think his ceiling back in the WWE will be no higher than Christian after he came back from TNA, no matter how much creative ideas and influence he\u2019s promised to get him to sign back up, but Cody Rhodes returning to the WWE is a big deal, big name, and a guy with an impressive resume and not just Dusty Rhodes\u2019 kid anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Frankly, anyone who didn\u2019t see this coming at some point is either just too young, hasn\u2019t watched enough wrestling in their lives, or maybe I really am just that more insightful and observant to the industry than other people are.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>But Cody going back to the WWE was about as much of a layup as <a href=\"http:\/\/dsz7vodgjx60a.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/BIL-WILT100.jpg\">Wilt Chamberlain playing hoops in his own era.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The wrestling internet is abuzz right now with the news that Cody Rhodes has left AEW, just a few years after he basically helped launch the entire promotion from the ground up.\u00a0 And not just leaving AEW, but also tons of reports about how he\u2019s on the track to returning to the WWE, the promotion &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/totfc.net\/?p=48446\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">I\u2019m surprised anyone is surprised about Cody Rhodes<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[76,83,133,52,54,55],"class_list":["post-48446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brog","tag-geeks","tag-observations","tag-old-man","tag-owned","tag-wrestling","tag-wwe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48446"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48454,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48446\/revisions\/48454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/totfc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}