The AEW Men’s World Championship match on the upcoming Revolution pay-per-view between MJF and Hangman Page will likely be one of the vital chaotic principal events in company history as they may compete in a Texas Death Match. Nonetheless, there’s one other stipulation attached to it that might have major ramifications for the longer term of the world title scene, that being that if Hangman fails to beat MJF this Sunday, he won’t ever challenge for the AEW Men’s World Championship ever again. Younger AEW fans might hear that and think “surely that will not stick,” but those that have been fans of AEW for the reason that starting will know that it has been done before and it did actually stick.
At AEW Full Gear 2019, every thing pointed to Cody Rhodes becoming the face of the corporate he helped create as he challenged Chris Jericho for the AEW Men’s World Championship. Rhodes felt like this match was the head of his profession and felt like if he couldn’t beat “Le Champion,” he didn’t should be the champion, and vowed to never challenge for the AEW Men’s World Championship again. In Cody’s corner was none apart from Maxwell Jacob Friedman, who claimed that he was Cody’s best friend and desired to be sure that that there can be a level playing field given Jericho’s Inner Circle would at all times be readily available to be sure that Jericho got the win.
Because the match went on, Cody’s hopes of becoming champion began to fade, but to not the purpose where the towel needed throwing in. The issue was nobody told MJF that last point, and as Cody was fighting against Jericho’s Lion Tamer, MJF threw within the towel and identical to that, Cody Rhodes was never going to be the AEW Men’s World Champion. Not a number of people thought the stipulation would last because it seemed inconceivable that Rhodes would never be the AEW Men’s World Champion, but sure enough, he never held the title and was back in WWE by WrestleMania 38 in 2022.
With Hangman Page currently walking down the identical dangerous path when it comes to his own championship aspirations, we thought it could be the proper time to look back on what might be in his future if he doesn’t walk out of Revolution with the title around his waist. Cody needed to jump through a number of hoops to get revenge on the person who could end Hangman’s title dreams this Sunday, but was the revenge price it? Let’s roll back the clock to the ultimate AEW pay-per-view before the world shut down on account of COVID-19 and try Cody Rhodes vs. MJF from AEW Revolution 2020.
Underrated or Overrated?
AEW Revolution 2020 is regarded by many as certainly one of the corporate’s best ever pay-per-views. It is a show that holds a special place in a number of people’s hearts, not only for the undeniable fact that it was the last major American show before the world shut down due to the pandemic, but since it was the culmination of several weeks of TV where AEW finally found its weekly groove. Had the pandemic not happened, who knows what would have happened if the road to Double or Nothing happened in front of a live crowd? So many matches from this show are held in high regard, but Cody Rhodes vs. MJF is not often certainly one of them, and for good reason, since it doesn’t live as much as the hype.
I realize it has nothing to do with the match, however the live performance from Downstait is absolutely bad, like really bad. There is a reason why WWE have never brought them in to play Cody to the ring at a WrestleMania, and this entrance is certainly one of them. This match can also be the primary time where the world got to see the famous neck tattoo, which we have all change into used to by now but let me let you know when it was first revealed, it was very funny.
On to the match and it’s the everyday AEW Cody match from the corporate’s first yr. He at all times desired to be the “emotional” match that was in the course of the show which played on old tropes from the past while the remainder of The Elite took the high spots and the NJPW-epic style. It worked well for his match with Dustin Rhodes, and you’d have thought it could work here given the clear babyface/heel divide, but sadly this match shouldn’t be nearly as good because it was in 2020. It starts slow and continues to be slow for what seems like ages before things really get going, and the way things get going is after they actually play into all the shenanigans that led to the match. MJF ripping Cody’s boot off to bite the toe he broke within the Steel Cage Match against Wardlow was a private highlight, and credit to Cody for wrestling the remainder of the match with one boot.
MJF gets busted open for absolutely no reason, but he sells the blade job thoroughly and you may feel the gang getting behind Cody as MJF is finally getting what has been coming to him. Even Wardlow is neutralized on the surface as Arn Anderson threatens to hit him with a chair, and Brandi Rhodes tries a Crossbody which does not go exactly to plan. Nonetheless, Cody let the warmth of the moment get to him as he hit MJF with two Cross Rhodes’, but as he was going for the hat-trick, MJF managed to sneak in a sucker punch with the Dynamite Diamond Ring, and MJF gets the win over the “American Nightmare.”
The Starting Of The End For Cody In AEW
I completely get why Cody Rhodes did what he did on this MJF story. He was seeking to make a brand new star and put them over in a giant way, so having Maxwell Jacob Friedman pick up the large win is sensible. But in a story where your potential in a wrestling company has had a ceiling placed on it against your will, you’d think that having Cody go over on this match would make essentially the most sense. You may give him the texture good victory, the consolation prize of not difficult for the highest prize but caring for the guy who cost you that probability.
After this story, the world was plunged into darkness with COVID-19, nevertheless it’s interesting how Cody never really joined forces with the remainder of The Elite around this time. It reached some extent where Cody was meant to be a part of the first-ever Blood and Guts match with The Elite against The Inner Circle, but when that match was reworked into what became the inaugural Stadium Stampede, Matt Hardy teamed with The Elite and never Cody. “The American Nightmare” did get three reigns with the AEW TNT Championship, a title many thought was designed for him since he couldn’t win the world title, but those reigns could never match what he could have done because the world champion.
It should have really bothered Cody on the time as well. The thought of him never difficult for the AEW Men’s World Championship on the time seemed ridiculous, but as time went on, the principal event scene grew and evolved to the purpose where it actually didn’t need Cody. It had moved past the necessity for him because the Hangman Page story grew and grew, Kenny Omega’s belt collector gimmick, and Jon Moxley being the ace of the corporate made people go “Did Cody just shoot himself within the foot?” Yes, yes he did. The stipulation won’t have stuck had he stayed with AEW, but I do not think he stayed in AEW due to the stipulation. The person himself has even said that he became something of a “gatekeeper” for younger talent after he couldn’t challenge for the title, and that was a job he didn’t find yourself wanting because he still had to complete his story in some unspecified time in the future.
The stipulation of him never difficult for the world title was very silly for Cody in hindsight, and if it never happened, the landscape of AEW and the broader world of skilled wrestling would look very different (don’t fret, now we have something on that coming soon). But I feel every thing worked out for everybody in the long term. When Cody went back to WWE, he got the possibility to be the guy in an organization that needed a man like him, it really was an ideal fit. AEW has not only survived, but thrived since his departure, and as for MJF, he’s the present world champion, so it’s protected to say he’s doing alright for himself as well.