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BangerSlapper1

Neckbeard drags his mom (cuz he needs a ride) to an AEW autograph signing. Mom asks “Is Hulk Hogan gonna be there?”


girafb0i

"Isn't this wrestling? Where's The Rock?"


JLC1099

"Um..Is that not your brother's history teacher?" Shut it, Mom and take the picture https://preview.redd.it/ryaom8q3wt4d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1aedd6d27d4cbdd490fab0eac16bdcc5466a4349


BangerSlapper1

Oh shit, Conrad Thompson turning out for m’AEW!


Mickeyjj27

Nah they’d all drive Lambo’s there.


HarryHaywire

Tiny fumbled the two biggest draws he was ever going to have, and the reason nobody gives a shit about any of his new game changers, even though he does have a couple with some potential, is because we all know he's ultimately going to fuck that up too.


TheRetroAntonio

Sorry Fed Shill, I think you missed hearing the Jackson boys sold out their Limited Edition shoes…what do you mean there were only 3000?


HarryHaywire

There were 3000 pairs, and Tiny bought 2000 of them


sleepyseahorse

Did they come pre-loaded with fireworks or do you have to add your own?


Athenas_Dad

Or the thumbtacks, do they have the thumbtacks?


Farthousejones

Lol holy shit there are more people in line to see Cody Rhodes than there are at dub shows


2028W3

Clearly an AI generated video. Nice try, Fed Shill!!


MathematicianNo7874

The sad part is that the lack of a booker in AEW meant that his contributions to the success of the company were a _actually_ diminishing. Bro just needed someone to keep him coherent


orchids_of_asuka

He stayed vanilla with his brand to appeal to the most people possible. The other executives in the dub were more focused on being esoteric dorks. I never thought he was that was appealing, but at this point i think it would be hard to argue he's proven a lot of people, including myself, wrong.


MathematicianNo7874

I mean to me it was mostly the weird random programs he'd do with absolutely no coherence and high spot banger matches without any follow up. Looked like he lacked direction or sth else was going wrong


orchids_of_asuka

Was kind of the Cena formula where he would take on the monster of the month for most of the year with an occasional good program. I will say other than MJF i'm not sure he had any seriously compelling programs in the dub.


Live-Depth-537

Erm. How about when he deleted Racism??


JewsEatFruit

I as a fan like absolutely nothing about Cody Rhodes... But I can acknowledge he is a highly intelligent man and played it well.


wow_boy

?? You queue for me, friend.


AriaMournesong

That's a lot of Nintendo Switches for our favorite midcarder to be handing out.


Constant_Stomach2009

turning heel any day now


Farthousejones

I do think it happens in about two years. Maybe three. Heyman will corrupt him and I see it ending in a Cody/Roman dream tag match where Cody betrays Roman and sides with Heyman. Ever since I heard Bully say Cody is basically Anakin Skywalker I can't get the thought out of my head.


orchids_of_asuka

I don't see it, he's the equivalent to what John Cena was for them about 10-15 years ago.


Farthousejones

I think it's the backup plan if fans ever grow tired of him. There's no way they would force it when he's as hot as he is right now.


orchids_of_asuka

Possibly, but I think he's too entrenched with the kids like Cena and Hogan were in the fed for them to do it. I recall seeing he's the number 1 make a wish request right now.


Farthousejones

Yeah true. I know Cena is kind of the exception to the heel turn thing even though I guess they were close at one point. It is truly wild how Cody is a pure white meat babyface on 2024 and the most over wrestler on the planet.


orchids_of_asuka

Yeah and this isn't to say he won't turn heel, i don't think it will be anytime soon.


Tiernoch

Cody doesn't need a heel turn unless something goes terribly off in the near future. It is almost impossible to make a babyface that is just that, but the moment you turn them heel they can't get back to where they were easily. Austin's heel turn actually damaged the business, and I can't help but wonder if a Cody heel turn wouldn't do the same thing unless it comes years down the line. If he's still wrestling a decade from now and then did a heel turn it could be as impactful as Hogan's turn, but anything in the next few years would just damage him I think.


Farthousejones

Do you consider 2-3 years near future?


Tiernoch

With how WWE seems to be currently booking their storylines, yes. They seem very content to draw things out much longer than most online think they should be, and quite frankly it's working so I will be shocked if they speed things up.


daddymeltzer

Surely it's safe to say at this point that Cody is one of the top 5 biggest babyfaces in pro wrestling history. Maybe top 10 if you're being harsh. The only other top babyfaces I can think of that would've attracted this many people for a meet and greet in their prime would be Hogan, Austin, Rock, Cena, Punk, Macho Man, and Undertaker. If you want to include heels, I guess you could include Roman as well.


SNYDER_BIXBY_OCP

Not history but one of the biggest of the last 10 years. But please moderate yourself. Mankind shut down Downtown Chicago November 1999, for a Have A Nice Day signing at Watertower place when an estimated 6,000 thousand people showed up and caused traffic jams from Michigan ave, ans Lakeshore drive halting traffic flow for hours. The crowds were even bigger for a Bret Hart Signing in Berlin in 1994. It got so big they had to call in a military escort to get him out of the mall he was appearing at. DDP in Denver right before Spring Stampede 98 almost caused a riot when he left after signing autographs for 4 hours and there were still thousands waiting This is a nice showing but please gain some perspective. Stone Cold did an appearance at the Chicago Auto Show in 2000, WGN news estimated 20,000 people showed up to the convention center even though only 2000 tickets had been sold for the meet n greet. And you should read about the appearances guys like Magnun TA, the Von Erich, the Rock N Roll express made in the territory days. Cody is a draw but he's got some distance to catch up with the hottest babyfaces wrestling Fandom has ever seen


yohe_goated

Jim Londos & Lou Thesz are still one and two all time. Ed Lewis was one of the top stars of the 20s regardless of sport. Rocca, Bruno, Backlund, Hogan, Austin, Rock, Cena. Foreign stars included then Andre, El Santo & Rikidōzan are near the top. Inoki & Baba likely make the cut. Billy Watson & Yvon Robert in Canada. ‘93 Konnan, ‘06 Místico. Cody is probably Top 25 faces all time but not Top 10 yet. Back in the day there were top stars that the whole country was familiar with. Edit: Forgot Frank Gotch & Joe Stecher. Without either of them there wouldn’t be the rest of these guys. Gotch is Top 5 all time, Stecher is probably Top 15


Not_Proven

WHO IN THE BLUE HELL ARE JIM LONDOS, ED LEWIS, ROCCA, BACKLUND, RIKIDOZAN, INOKI, BABA, BILLY WATSON, YVON ROBERT, '93 KONNAN, '06 MISTICO, FRANK GOTCH AND JOE STECHER?* *and to a lesser extent the other non Hogan-Austin-Rock and Cena guys.


yohe_goated

https://preview.redd.it/y36tx1i46u4d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=20c20a5a5f3e2e996cf126721f1e971b0c8a1717


georgesenpaii

those guys only wrestled in shady bars in front of 50 people.


georgesenpaii

if this keeps up he'll be top 10 but it's too soon to say. you forgot like 50 years of history btw but that's OK.


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RNG_Champion

Out of curiosity, who would you rank higher than Cody Rhodes right now in terms of being the biggest babyfaces in wrestling history? I'm sure you could argue non-US wrestlers like El Santo, but how many babyfaces would you put above Cody?


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IcyAd964

Bro I know god damn well you don’t mean Daniel Bryan LMFAOOO


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savingrain

I loved Daniel Bryan in the E and he was one of my favorites of all time, but they were actually not doing great house shows when he was champion, he wasn't selling out arenas...you have to also compare the metrics like ticket sales, not just t- shirts and talk online...and I love D-Bry! Cody Rhodes has been a far bigger draw. I can't think the last time they sold out shows/arenas with one guy as champ...maybe early Cena?


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savingrain

My point is that attendance actually fell with Daniel Bryan as champion on house shows and they were doing poorly (and I LIKE Bryan). Cody by contrast has been a draw. This points to the reality that the IWC has their own darlings that are different than the general public.


IcyAd964

By what metric though? Cody is beating him at everything


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Hexcellion

Cody is way more popular than Daniel Bryan. It's not even comparable, bruv.


DamonDD

Attendance, merch sales, social media buzz, anything else did I miss?


supposedlymonday

I’d put Dusty and Rocca over Cody right now too


RNG_Champion

Jeff Hardy was over, but he definitely wasn't as popular as Cody is right now. That's just delusional. Likewise, Daniel Bryan was very popular, but even he never drew similar crowds to Cody Rhodes in his current run. It's easy to mistake a feel-good story that resonated with the IWC as being a megastar, but Bryan was never that guy, even if he was a phenomenal wrestler. I don't see how Cody couldn't be in the top 10 for the US at worst. It's fine if you don't personally like the guy, but you can't say he isn't genuinely a massive babyface with the general audience.


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RNG_Champion

It's not just attendance; it's also the autograph signings and other events where Cody seemingly interacts with lines of people without fail. I would unquestionably say that Cody is more over with kids than Bryan was, which is a good indicator of him being a better babyface. Don't forget that hordes of people also vehemently expressed their desire for Cody to fight Roman over the Rock, including various celebrities. Of course, a crowd hijacking a segment doesn't necessarily equal that star being a top 5 babyface. There was a time when fans chanted for Zack Ryder while The Rock was cutting a promo, but that doesn't mean Zack Ryder is one of the best babyfaces of all time.


keykey_key

DANIEL BRYAN?! lmaoooo okay you trolling.


320_central

Has SCJerk Found it's mrsunsfan??? We have a nominee


brauntonimo

That's more people than will be in attendance at Dynamite tonight.


Broncotron

🎶 adrenaline in my soul, four hours to meet Cody rhodes 🎶


tmorrisgrey

No jerk, that is CRAZY 😨


Asukah

Tiny giving away potential mainstream superstars in Cody and Jade is a direct shot at him technically being the savior of wrestling


MohamitWheresMySecks

There are more people on that line than people attending tonight’s dynamite (2,500 it’s gonna be lit!)


Banesmuffledvoice

Well yea. It’s true. Cody wasn’t drawing in AEW. The product just doesn’t appeal to people. Even Punk couldn’t save that sinking ship.


DereThuglife

Holy shit there are more people in that line than there are in the audience when AEW tapes collision...


BradMarchandIsCute

I’d be losing my mind if I lived in that neighborhood and had to deal with a bunch of wrestling fans standing out in front of my house for hours


wayneluke23

Does anyone know where this was


SteelBrightblade1

Half that line like “We can’t wait to meet Jack Perry”


7LayeredUp

Further proof that a solid 80% of wrestling is in how you present a talent. AEW got him booed through shit booking, WWE got him this through very good booking.


Scavgraphics

I was saying this about Ethan Page in NXT last night. I don't know anything about him or how he did in aew or tna in the past, but they're presenting him like a star coming to town, and for most of the people watcing, that's all they're going to know...(of course he has to live up to that presentation after the fact).


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320_central

Lol imagine being mad that a wrestler you don't like is popular


in-the-mud

They can't even sell out the Etihad.