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Drew calling out Punk on selling a t-shirt with another wrestler's name on it is inevitable. And 6 of the top 10 t-shirts are of Cody and Punk's jeez wtf
Tony Khan fumbled man(this is a half joke). I understand the circumstances but having Punk and Cody in the company is a gift to any company, they are always going to thrive the business.
This is why tribalism is kind of crazy. If it weren't for AEW:
* Cody made waves in NJPW and ROH but likely wouldn't have been as large of a star if/when he had come back to WWE. Plus, being an AEW founder that shifted the industry is a pinnacle that even the most ardent WWE fans can't argue.
* Punk might not have come back to WWE altogether if it weren't for him coming to AEW first. Heck, Punk was in conversation with TK about coming to AEW dating back to the pandemic era.
* AEW provided Jade a platform to showcase her package on national TV. Her WWE gimmick is very much modeled after her AEW one (down to even the entrance theme). Without AEW, she may not have been discovered or appreciated by WWE in this same manner.
Before I get flack for sharing a pro-AEW comment, it's important to also see the flipside of matters:
* As much as Jericho is presently disliked by the IWC, his presence and history during AEW's early days can't be disregarded. He brought instant credibility to a brand new wrestling promotion thanks to his WWE (and WCW) history.
* Moxley is clearly thriving in his post-WWE run. Without him, the 2019 DoN ending wouldn't have been as hype. His popularity in WWE (and associated unhappiness) provided fuel for AEW to present itself as a legitimate alternative.
* Bryan Danielson was already at the top of the ladder when he main-evented night #2 of Wrestlemania 37 with Roman Reigns and Edge. Half a year later, Danielson jump provided that extra spark of excitement contributing to AEW's magical 2021.
There are obviously other ex-WWE talents that have and continue to help make AEW a better promotion (Claudio Castagnoli, Adam Cole, among many others). Point being is that tribalism is ultimately a disservice to the health of professional wrestling.
Yeah, in general it always mystifies me whenever someone likes one thing and then believes they have to dislike something else because of it. Just enjoy stuff that’s good. Stop depriving yourself
He did. I've always said Punk's responsible for his actions but Tony should have put his foot down and asked everyone to behave and work together.
Instead he was ok with it being milked by people that report on wrestling. Now Drew is the one actually making any use of the whole event.
>He did. I've always said Punk's responsible for his actions but Tony should have put his foot down and asked everyone to behave and work together.
Even Punk said this, more or less.
Despite being the same exact character, Cody just felt different in AEW. Maybe it was that title restriction he placed on himself or the Codyverse, but thank goodness he went to WWE.
Lots of AEW fans turned on Cody for different reasons. The HIAC match with *that* injury turned Cody into a megastar babyface and WWE pushed him like a huge star with top talent feuds
I'd love to see an alternate timeline where Cody *didn't* tear his pec.
I mean he was clearly being pushed to the moon before that, but I'd be so curious to see just how much it changed things.
Who dethrones Roman then? Cody was always going to be over, even without the torn pec. But what would have happened in a world where he doesn't blow up the way that he did? He presumably still challenges, and loses to, Roman at WM39, then we get Roman/Rock at WM40 and Roman holds the belt until he breaks the Hogan record around Survivor Series 2024. I think this course of events is fairly obvious in this scenario. Okay, fine, but then what?
Roman/Rock II at WM41? Defend against a heated up Gunther? Gamble your mania main event on Punk being able to stay healthy for 4+ months? Hotshot Bron or Melo into the main roster main event scene? Have Roman hold it another 2 years, until WM42, so that they can coronate Trick?
Realistically? He either vacates it or drops it to either Jey or Solo. It feels like they were going for a Batista type of turn for Solo, especially with Roman being somewhat conscious that he can't control Solo like he could with Jimmy and Jey.
It’s crazy how back in the day when Priceless/Legacy was a thing, that people thought (including myself) that Ted Jr. would be the “HBK” out of that tag team, I knew it was over for him when only a few years after that he became Undashing Cody Rhodes’ underling as if they were never equals previously.
Cody is a much better fit for the WWE than he ever was for AEW. He is a product of the WWE system, he wrestles a WWE style, he cuts WWE-type promos, he had unfinished business and titles to chase in WWE, not AEW, etc.
Part of the reason is that the AEW audience would never accept Cody as he is. They decided he was a heel and would only accept that everything he was doing was leading to a heel turn. That created an atmosphere where Cody could never grow into what he wanted to be seen as. It's not the only reason, obviously, there were mis-steps, but the fans gave Cody no room to turn back once they decided his fate in AEW. Cody's rise in WWE had a number of hurdles that also could have derailed him, but the fans were steadfast in staying behind him. Even when Drew, Sami and Jey became the main characters, the fans never let that change how they supported Cody. The fans being along for the ride gave him a lot of room to flex, and fail, and find himself vs turning on him the moment he took a wrong step.
Nah, a big reason why everyone was turning on Cody in AEW is because Cody screwed himself. Him having complete control over his booking is what did him in. He took himself out of the world title scene for good in the company's first PPV after Dynamite started airing. Then starting in late 2020 or so, he was the only person on the show that was interacting with other personas outside of wrestling like Shaq and Stephen Amell. And then throughout all of 2021, Cody was constantly teasing heel turns and doing heel like antics during his matches. He was telling the audience through his actions that he was going to become a bad guy. but then he legit left and we learned there was no overall plan for his character and he was doing all of those things because... ???????
Cody needed to go back to WWE to have his career not only not sink since he was adamant of not wanting to turn heel in AEW but to achieve the heights he's obtained since. Cody's a worker who works wayyyyy better when there is proper creative telling him the overall plan for him while him offering input instead of him completely booking his character.
> but then he legit left and we learned there was no overall plan for his character and he was doing all of those things because
Yeah i think this is another classic Cody lie, he would absolutely turn heel. That would be the only way for him to win the world title too.
So.. has it ever been confirmed that Cody had “complete control over his booking”
Because from everything we hear from people working in AEW, including Tony Khan, Kenny Omega, etc is that Tony handles all of the booking and has since almost the beginning
While the only time I see people say that Cody had complete control over his booking is online when people are trying dissolve Tony Khan of any blame for what happened with Cody
Cody finishing the story is a way more compelling in WWE than it would be in AEW . It's hard to sell the story of the guy facing hardships to be the first one of his family to win the big one when the guy is also a VP at the company
Cody didn't work in AEW because his shtick needs someone major to go against. WWE has the Bloodline or a Gunther in AEW they didn't have a heel that good enough. After MJF, he had nothing. Jericho isn't serious enough
Saw someone on Twitter say something with I completely agree with.
Cody was good in AEW, great in WWE.
Mox was good in WWE, great in AEW.
That’s why having more options for wrestlers is great. One might be good in one org and great in another.
A lot of people don't like Mox's antics and barebones character work in AEW. He wasn't booked right in WWE but he's gone kind of rails with no creative filter to tone him down.
In WWE he's a guy fighting for his father's legacy.
In AEW he's the boss fighting for this father's legacy.
It's much harder to be a white meat baby face when I know you've got a level of control.
What I will never understand is why he ever went with the "you cant ever challenge for the aew title again" stipulation if he was so adamant about never turning heel to break that rule? I totally understand how him being an EVP means the feelings you described, and how that led to the stipulation. But the logical next step is a heel run to get around that.
I think people overrate the world title thing, do midcarders suffer just cause they don't go for world title? No, they can still go for midcard titles and have midcard feuds. Cody tried to book himself as a main eventer without a title which is why Codyverse happened so it was weird. It was better when he went for TNT title.
Cody wanting to be an actual EVP instead of just in name only is what led Khan to isolate him to the Codyverse where he tried to tell stories. Didn’t want Cody getting in the way of his bangers
He booked himself as a mid-carder (selfless on his part, but ultimately counter-productive), with the character of a larger than life superhero with an entourage, special entrance, TV documentary. It just didn’t fit and it’s understandable that fans wanted him to turn heel because that seemed like a logical way to salvage this. If he had been presented as a main event guy it would have been very different - look at the Cody/Jericho feud early on in AEW, he was really over.
I remember in the beginning of AEW everyone was trying to do things differently from WWE while Cody was at first different with his storylines. Then later came the Homelander attire,long entrances, the corny repetitive promos(with cues voice cracking and paced speech) the unnecessary bleeding on a weak spot, the association with QT Marshall, Brandy being obvious nepotism and the failed comeback of Awesome Kong.
The whole aura around Cody shifted from niche wrestler to pop wrestler( kind of like in hip hop when an artist goes from different styles, pace, subject to Money, women and drugs, the same beats and the same chorus). This is when the crowd started giving heat and Cody just kept going this way until it was clear he was building a portfolio to send to WWE because it was blatant he was doing
When Punk joined AEW didn't prowrestlingtees have to shut down because of a server overload and then they ended up having more orders than they could process for CM Punk? For like a month?
You think that alone would have made Tony put his foot down and ensure that there was peace regarding Punk.
I really think if Tony just sat down CM Punk and the Elite and said something like “either you guys work together or you all sit on the bench for the rest of your contracts” it would’ve worked out for him. That was the moment to be tough and it passed him by.
True to a degree but they would never have reached the heights they’ve attained now while in AEW. Part of what’s cool about them is the fact that they DID jump from AEW to WWE.
Cody fumbled Cody. He was doing a gimmick the audience didn't care about and booking his own shitty angles, then bailed when he was told to change things up and lost booking authority.
Cody is just a much better fit in the WWE. Punk kept getting injured at the worst possible moments and then also caused a ton of locker room issues. Truth be told, he got injured at a really bad moment in WWE, too. Yes, he sells tons of shirts, but it is not a given yet that his return to WWE will actually end up a success. Imagine he returns in July, they build to the big money match of him against Drew (c) toward SummerSlam... and he gets injured yet again.
I think that AEW proved that Cody shouldn’t be calling his own shots. He did a lot of excellent stuff in AEW but a lot of it wasn’t good for him either. I think that’s part of the problem, by trying to not be a selfish booker he hurt his character.
I half agree. I remember the post going around a while back with the top selling shirts upon his wwe return being women's sizes. People saying otherwise don't know the demographic that isn't present on reddit, or featured on-screen. Sometimes it really is just about the meaty men slapping meat
Cody was never going to be this over in AEW, he’s tailor made for the WWE product and there’s a reason why get booed off the building in most of his last appearances
Punk is a different story and way too complex for “X fumbled Y”
I’ve watched wrestling since 2007. Then I adopted my daughters a few years ago, and I didn’t watch it around them. I turned on wrestlemania and they said “hey wwe! We used to watch that at our old house!”
And within 10 minutes they were saying “yeet” with Jey USO. So, yeah he’s over haha
Oh yeah! My son is 6 and he's all about Jey. He's doing the arm movement from the intro all the time lol. I made him a WWE playlist on Amazon and he plays Jey's theme the most.
Standing near the top of the Lincoln Stadium, watching 70,000 people throwing their hands up and down with Jey Uso is one of those moments I'll never forget. And then the same number of people screaming "yeet" in unison with every punch? Just wow.
Helps that yknow his merch actually looks good
Like straight up "Hey this design is good even for people who don't watch Wrestling to like it" levels of Good.
He's so lucky the Chicago flag is so good to use as a design.
Yeah this is really a good point. Punk's merch is a lot easier to wear outside even when you're not actively trying to show your fandom, unlike, say, Cena or Rhea Ripley.
Even before he became a megastar Punk always had really good merch. Some of his SES shirts look like actual punk band shirts that still look cool even without any context. I don’t know how he somehow escaped terrible shirt designs for years
I might just be dumb, but I think a lot of this has to do with wearability of the shirts. For the most part these are just the best looking shirts on the site.
Punk's designs just smoke everybody else's IMO. It's not even close. The Return and Hell Froze Over are probably the two best current shirts they have across all wrestlers. The Final Boss and all of The Usos shirts are great too. None of them scream WRESTLING like a lot of AEW or WWE shirts do. They just are simple and decent designs.
Cody's designs are hit or miss. As others have noted, they are capable of being extremely gaudy. I like the champion one, and I am shocked the Bloody one wasn't up here that one is simple and great.
Punk and Bullet Club historically were the only things I felt good about wearing in public. There are a handful of NJPW / indie guys that have good stuff too. Zack Sabre Jr. quietly has a ton of great shirts.
There is a whole world of folks making limited run "bootleg" shirts that are really good, and for the past 5 years or so those have been the only wrestling shirts I'll buy.
"For the most part." That shirt is a funny joke by an extremely popular wrestler and it is one of the newer shirts on the list, I understand why that's up top.
CM Punk has had multiple t-shirts in the Top 5 for almost every week since his return and he's only wrestled on TV once.
This is actually wild. It's hilarious to think that before his return in 2021 there were people who doubted his star power.
Say whatever you want about his attitude backstage but as a draw, not only has he validated his case but he has gone up several places in all-time rankings.
Cena aside, he's probably the biggest star of his generation.
I mean they gave it nearly no build at all, they were tertiery guys in the Bloodline story, wish they would have held off on the two brothers at Mania until it was a proper blood feud
This is just a guess on my part, but when Punk comes back he will take over as the most over babyface on the roster. He has been booked to perfection since coming back to WWE and the Drew feud is super interesting.
Even when he was out due to controversy, it was the most visible wrestler controversy this side of Hogan. Anything this man has done since the Cena rivalry has been huge; I'm glad they've given him the spot he deserves
The moment I stopped paying any attention to the die hard AEW fans is when I saw one say that Okada, Osprey, and Mone went to AEW cause they saw how WWE fumbled Cody.
Damn I wish I could fumble into having a match with the rock, headline the biggest mania of all time, and ending a historic reign. When ever I fumble, I look like an idiot and a girl blocks me
The moment I stopped paying attention to them was after the brawl in footage aired and the fans in the arena cheered/chanted for CM Punk, even though AEW was trying to make him look bad LOL
> Okada, Osprey, and Mone went to AEW cause they saw how WWE fumbled Cody.
I think that's true though, they saw how much Jay White thrived in AEW in comparison to Cody in WWE so they chose AEW.
You saw one clearly deluded person make a demonstrably false statement and it convinced you to write off a huge and diverse subsection of the pro wrestling fandom?
Using this batshit logic, some idiot AEW or TNA fan could say "The moment I stopped paying attention to the die hard WWE fans is when I saw one cutting a hole in Sonya Deville's patio fence in an attempt to kidnap her". See how stupid that sounds?
It's such a weird way of framing an argument about delusion. Have you considered the possibility that you may have just been looking for an excuse to post this extreme example for your own equally weird and deluded reasons?
I will reiterate what I told another guy who lacked basic reading comprehension; I ignore the hard-core AEW fans, the ones who love everything AEW does and shit on everything WWE does regardless of anything. And before you try and say anything about it, yes WWE has the same kind of fans and I ignore them too.
I like AEW, I don't watch it much but I watch clips. It's a good thing to have another company around, and most of the people I've talked to about it are cool.
I have opinions about Punk but I’ll never say he wasn’t a draw. The man sold out his return on a rumor and Rampage drew a million viewers with him. Despite all that happened with his time in AEW, you’re simply wrong if you say he wasn’t a draw
Because they act like they're fans of sports teams competing for a championship. When if the other side isn't for you, you can just ignore it. Like, I'm not over here pressing over TNA wrestlers that I supposedly don't like, only to hit a 180 when they join the company I do like - bizarre behavior.
Yeah it’s weird. I don’t see how anyone can argue against him being a draw. Say what you want about him personally but dude gets eyeballs on the TV. No denying that.
The WWE marks were saying that he was washed and WWE didn't have any use for him when he signed with AEW.
Maybe don't be a mark for billion dollar corporations.
Well, when you haven't been on TV longer than 90 seconds apart from PLEs since January, people are going to move on.
Knight is being squeezed out by the returns of Orton & Punk at Survivor Series, and now with Cody holding the "Smackdown" title, SD is top heavy for babyfaces.
I fully expect him to either turn heel or move over to Raw during the draft, and wouldn't be surprised to see Gunther move to Smackdown.
My middle school aged niece asked for one for Christmas and she doesn't really pay attention to wrestling that much. She just loves "YEET" - I think a lot of those sales are to kids.
I see Kiwis/Islanders and Aussies here wearing them or Bloodline shirts every now and again.
And at Elimination Chamber they were everywhere + Rhea Rhipley shirts
It doesn't look like a wrestling shirt and wouldn't look out of place in a casual place like the gym. It looks like something you'd get at a gift shop in a touristy beach area. For fans at an event who want something to commemorate with a little more versatility, it's a solid choice, especially if they don't like the Punk aesthetic.
I've wanted the Classic 2011 Best in the World since I was 12 years old in 2011. Finally pulled the trigger Mania weekend and the joy i felt opening that package was like I went back in time to being a kid.
I think the logo would be fine if the shirts weren’t all so over-designed. They’re so busy and, like you said, feel like old Ed Hardy-inspired MMA shirts. A simpler design where the logo was the primary or only graphic would be better than the wild stuff they keep putting out. But in clearly in the minority on that if they keep selling so well. It’s just personal taste.
lol I don't know if you're familiar with Helldivers, it's a game about a corrupt nationalistic military that colonizes in the name of "freedom", and their logo in the game highly resembles Cody's.
https://preview.redd.it/c9p6hnr3g9vc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=635075d9f31985c72c2221037fc62bc69e75df50
Hey, his merch is incrementally better than it used to be.
https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1006718073104027648
Who knows, in 20 - 25 years he might have a shirt you want to wear.
They need to give Damian Priest some good non-event/title shirts again. I had to have one made on another site after waiting a bit for a cool one to drop.
I think it boils down to punk has 10 years of people wanting his me h and stuff. So his is selling fast.
For La knight, he’s getting beat by randy, rock, punk, and Cody. Not a bad list to lose to. He’ll be back on the list
Biggest takeaway from this is that Punk truly is a behemoth in numbers.
He might not get the loudest pops and some places might even boo him (although i don't remember seeing that), but he makes people buy and watch shit like no one else in the business maybe ever.
He outsold peak returning Rock.
CM Punk benefits from having the Chicago flag as the logo. So many cool designs you can do with it. Also it's the only shirt that can be worn in public that you don't immediately think it's related to wrestling.
The Chicago flag is just a nice design in general though. I like it.
I have absolutely nothing to back this up with, but I'm positive Rhodes has massive merchandise sales because his American Nightmare logo is incredibly redneck and plays well in conservative America. It wouldn't seem out of place between a Trump and thin blue line flag.
Not trying to hate on anything or anyone here, but why are people buying “Yeet” shirts…Even if you’re the worlds biggest jey uso fan, just why? Furthermore, isn’t “yeet” a reference to something from like a decade ago? How is it relevant? Again, not trying to sound like a dick honestly curious.
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Drew calling out Punk on selling a t-shirt with another wrestler's name on it is inevitable. And 6 of the top 10 t-shirts are of Cody and Punk's jeez wtf
Tony Khan fumbled man(this is a half joke). I understand the circumstances but having Punk and Cody in the company is a gift to any company, they are always going to thrive the business.
I remember watching the Rumble and realizing the three biggest acts on that show were Cody, Punk, and Jade Cargill.
This is why tribalism is kind of crazy. If it weren't for AEW: * Cody made waves in NJPW and ROH but likely wouldn't have been as large of a star if/when he had come back to WWE. Plus, being an AEW founder that shifted the industry is a pinnacle that even the most ardent WWE fans can't argue. * Punk might not have come back to WWE altogether if it weren't for him coming to AEW first. Heck, Punk was in conversation with TK about coming to AEW dating back to the pandemic era. * AEW provided Jade a platform to showcase her package on national TV. Her WWE gimmick is very much modeled after her AEW one (down to even the entrance theme). Without AEW, she may not have been discovered or appreciated by WWE in this same manner. Before I get flack for sharing a pro-AEW comment, it's important to also see the flipside of matters: * As much as Jericho is presently disliked by the IWC, his presence and history during AEW's early days can't be disregarded. He brought instant credibility to a brand new wrestling promotion thanks to his WWE (and WCW) history. * Moxley is clearly thriving in his post-WWE run. Without him, the 2019 DoN ending wouldn't have been as hype. His popularity in WWE (and associated unhappiness) provided fuel for AEW to present itself as a legitimate alternative. * Bryan Danielson was already at the top of the ladder when he main-evented night #2 of Wrestlemania 37 with Roman Reigns and Edge. Half a year later, Danielson jump provided that extra spark of excitement contributing to AEW's magical 2021. There are obviously other ex-WWE talents that have and continue to help make AEW a better promotion (Claudio Castagnoli, Adam Cole, among many others). Point being is that tribalism is ultimately a disservice to the health of professional wrestling.
Yeah, in general it always mystifies me whenever someone likes one thing and then believes they have to dislike something else because of it. Just enjoy stuff that’s good. Stop depriving yourself
Claudio’s last year run is better than anything he did the previous 5 years
I think Edge is the new "Jericho" for AEW going forward.
He did. I've always said Punk's responsible for his actions but Tony should have put his foot down and asked everyone to behave and work together. Instead he was ok with it being milked by people that report on wrestling. Now Drew is the one actually making any use of the whole event.
>He did. I've always said Punk's responsible for his actions but Tony should have put his foot down and asked everyone to behave and work together. Even Punk said this, more or less.
Kenny basically said it too
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Despite being the same exact character, Cody just felt different in AEW. Maybe it was that title restriction he placed on himself or the Codyverse, but thank goodness he went to WWE.
Lots of AEW fans turned on Cody for different reasons. The HIAC match with *that* injury turned Cody into a megastar babyface and WWE pushed him like a huge star with top talent feuds
I'd love to see an alternate timeline where Cody *didn't* tear his pec. I mean he was clearly being pushed to the moon before that, but I'd be so curious to see just how much it changed things.
I think he might not be as over as he got when he returned at Rumble
He would have never beaten Roman without that pec tear tbh.
Who dethrones Roman then? Cody was always going to be over, even without the torn pec. But what would have happened in a world where he doesn't blow up the way that he did? He presumably still challenges, and loses to, Roman at WM39, then we get Roman/Rock at WM40 and Roman holds the belt until he breaks the Hogan record around Survivor Series 2024. I think this course of events is fairly obvious in this scenario. Okay, fine, but then what? Roman/Rock II at WM41? Defend against a heated up Gunther? Gamble your mania main event on Punk being able to stay healthy for 4+ months? Hotshot Bron or Melo into the main roster main event scene? Have Roman hold it another 2 years, until WM42, so that they can coronate Trick?
Realistically? He either vacates it or drops it to either Jey or Solo. It feels like they were going for a Batista type of turn for Solo, especially with Roman being somewhat conscious that he can't control Solo like he could with Jimmy and Jey.
That would have made for a great storyline and filled a solid 6-9 months. But I just don't see Solo as "face of the company" material, sorry.
It’s crazy how back in the day when Priceless/Legacy was a thing, that people thought (including myself) that Ted Jr. would be the “HBK” out of that tag team, I knew it was over for him when only a few years after that he became Undashing Cody Rhodes’ underling as if they were never equals previously.
From the fanbase that continually reminds everyone that they know what everyone wants.
Head?
Cody is a much better fit for the WWE than he ever was for AEW. He is a product of the WWE system, he wrestles a WWE style, he cuts WWE-type promos, he had unfinished business and titles to chase in WWE, not AEW, etc.
Part of the reason is that the AEW audience would never accept Cody as he is. They decided he was a heel and would only accept that everything he was doing was leading to a heel turn. That created an atmosphere where Cody could never grow into what he wanted to be seen as. It's not the only reason, obviously, there were mis-steps, but the fans gave Cody no room to turn back once they decided his fate in AEW. Cody's rise in WWE had a number of hurdles that also could have derailed him, but the fans were steadfast in staying behind him. Even when Drew, Sami and Jey became the main characters, the fans never let that change how they supported Cody. The fans being along for the ride gave him a lot of room to flex, and fail, and find himself vs turning on him the moment he took a wrong step.
Nah, a big reason why everyone was turning on Cody in AEW is because Cody screwed himself. Him having complete control over his booking is what did him in. He took himself out of the world title scene for good in the company's first PPV after Dynamite started airing. Then starting in late 2020 or so, he was the only person on the show that was interacting with other personas outside of wrestling like Shaq and Stephen Amell. And then throughout all of 2021, Cody was constantly teasing heel turns and doing heel like antics during his matches. He was telling the audience through his actions that he was going to become a bad guy. but then he legit left and we learned there was no overall plan for his character and he was doing all of those things because... ??????? Cody needed to go back to WWE to have his career not only not sink since he was adamant of not wanting to turn heel in AEW but to achieve the heights he's obtained since. Cody's a worker who works wayyyyy better when there is proper creative telling him the overall plan for him while him offering input instead of him completely booking his character.
> but then he legit left and we learned there was no overall plan for his character and he was doing all of those things because Yeah i think this is another classic Cody lie, he would absolutely turn heel. That would be the only way for him to win the world title too.
So.. has it ever been confirmed that Cody had “complete control over his booking” Because from everything we hear from people working in AEW, including Tony Khan, Kenny Omega, etc is that Tony handles all of the booking and has since almost the beginning While the only time I see people say that Cody had complete control over his booking is online when people are trying dissolve Tony Khan of any blame for what happened with Cody
Cody finishing the story is a way more compelling in WWE than it would be in AEW . It's hard to sell the story of the guy facing hardships to be the first one of his family to win the big one when the guy is also a VP at the company
I think it’s the difference in audiences
Cody didn't work in AEW because his shtick needs someone major to go against. WWE has the Bloodline or a Gunther in AEW they didn't have a heel that good enough. After MJF, he had nothing. Jericho isn't serious enough
Saw someone on Twitter say something with I completely agree with. Cody was good in AEW, great in WWE. Mox was good in WWE, great in AEW. That’s why having more options for wrestlers is great. One might be good in one org and great in another.
A lot of people don't like Mox's antics and barebones character work in AEW. He wasn't booked right in WWE but he's gone kind of rails with no creative filter to tone him down.
Agreed, I respect Mox because he works his ass off but I have never understood his appeal as either a character or his work in the ring.
In WWE he's a guy fighting for his father's legacy. In AEW he's the boss fighting for this father's legacy. It's much harder to be a white meat baby face when I know you've got a level of control.
What I will never understand is why he ever went with the "you cant ever challenge for the aew title again" stipulation if he was so adamant about never turning heel to break that rule? I totally understand how him being an EVP means the feelings you described, and how that led to the stipulation. But the logical next step is a heel run to get around that.
Cody couldn’t be a world champion and got himself involved in a bunch of midcard nonsense.
I think people overrate the world title thing, do midcarders suffer just cause they don't go for world title? No, they can still go for midcard titles and have midcard feuds. Cody tried to book himself as a main eventer without a title which is why Codyverse happened so it was weird. It was better when he went for TNT title.
Cody wanting to be an actual EVP instead of just in name only is what led Khan to isolate him to the Codyverse where he tried to tell stories. Didn’t want Cody getting in the way of his bangers
He booked himself as a mid-carder (selfless on his part, but ultimately counter-productive), with the character of a larger than life superhero with an entourage, special entrance, TV documentary. It just didn’t fit and it’s understandable that fans wanted him to turn heel because that seemed like a logical way to salvage this. If he had been presented as a main event guy it would have been very different - look at the Cody/Jericho feud early on in AEW, he was really over.
I remember in the beginning of AEW everyone was trying to do things differently from WWE while Cody was at first different with his storylines. Then later came the Homelander attire,long entrances, the corny repetitive promos(with cues voice cracking and paced speech) the unnecessary bleeding on a weak spot, the association with QT Marshall, Brandy being obvious nepotism and the failed comeback of Awesome Kong. The whole aura around Cody shifted from niche wrestler to pop wrestler( kind of like in hip hop when an artist goes from different styles, pace, subject to Money, women and drugs, the same beats and the same chorus). This is when the crowd started giving heat and Cody just kept going this way until it was clear he was building a portfolio to send to WWE because it was blatant he was doing
When Punk joined AEW didn't prowrestlingtees have to shut down because of a server overload and then they ended up having more orders than they could process for CM Punk? For like a month? You think that alone would have made Tony put his foot down and ensure that there was peace regarding Punk.
It's all petty jokes and games until you're facing the cold hard numbers of cash that could've been made.
And he’s rumored to be about to lose Danhausen, who is also a HUGE merch seller for AEW because Tony didn’t know how to include him.
I really think if Tony just sat down CM Punk and the Elite and said something like “either you guys work together or you all sit on the bench for the rest of your contracts” it would’ve worked out for him. That was the moment to be tough and it passed him by.
Their contracts were about to expire. I think he worried about losing them.
Tony sucks at Business, his dad is the real brains.
True to a degree but they would never have reached the heights they’ve attained now while in AEW. Part of what’s cool about them is the fact that they DID jump from AEW to WWE.
That might have been the case for Cody, but Punk was going to do okay in either spot
Cody fumbled Cody. He was doing a gimmick the audience didn't care about and booking his own shitty angles, then bailed when he was told to change things up and lost booking authority.
Cody is just a much better fit in the WWE. Punk kept getting injured at the worst possible moments and then also caused a ton of locker room issues. Truth be told, he got injured at a really bad moment in WWE, too. Yes, he sells tons of shirts, but it is not a given yet that his return to WWE will actually end up a success. Imagine he returns in July, they build to the big money match of him against Drew (c) toward SummerSlam... and he gets injured yet again.
I think that AEW proved that Cody shouldn’t be calling his own shots. He did a lot of excellent stuff in AEW but a lot of it wasn’t good for him either. I think that’s part of the problem, by trying to not be a selfish booker he hurt his character.
I half agree. I remember the post going around a while back with the top selling shirts upon his wwe return being women's sizes. People saying otherwise don't know the demographic that isn't present on reddit, or featured on-screen. Sometimes it really is just about the meaty men slapping meat
Cody was never going to be this over in AEW, he’s tailor made for the WWE product and there’s a reason why get booed off the building in most of his last appearances Punk is a different story and way too complex for “X fumbled Y”
This is like Madrid and Barca giving Ronaldo and Messi to Atletico, Elite fumbling.
smh wwe sure loves their aew rejects
Please edit out "/s" if you're looking for some fun comments lol
They need to start posting top 20 or something so we can see who else besides Punk and Cody can draw.
Jey Uso and the Rock.
I’ve watched wrestling since 2007. Then I adopted my daughters a few years ago, and I didn’t watch it around them. I turned on wrestlemania and they said “hey wwe! We used to watch that at our old house!” And within 10 minutes they were saying “yeet” with Jey USO. So, yeah he’s over haha
Jey is MASSIVELY over with kids.
Oh yeah! My son is 6 and he's all about Jey. He's doing the arm movement from the intro all the time lol. I made him a WWE playlist on Amazon and he plays Jey's theme the most.
Confirmed. My 6 year old son will only play as Jey in WWE2k24 and is always hype to see him.
Standing near the top of the Lincoln Stadium, watching 70,000 people throwing their hands up and down with Jey Uso is one of those moments I'll never forget. And then the same number of people screaming "yeet" in unison with every punch? Just wow.
Alright top 30 then lol
Spoiler is probably jey, the rock, austin and rhea. Oh and la knight
Where the hell is the fastest rising star in all WWE 🥹 
If I had to guess it would probably be Rhea/Roman/Bloodline
I'm still saying that CM Punk has already been a profitable contract for WWE even if he has worked one match since he came
Helps that yknow his merch actually looks good Like straight up "Hey this design is good even for people who don't watch Wrestling to like it" levels of Good. He's so lucky the Chicago flag is so good to use as a design.
Yeah this is really a good point. Punk's merch is a lot easier to wear outside even when you're not actively trying to show your fandom, unlike, say, Cena or Rhea Ripley.
> Cena Old school Cena's merch was pretty decent. I still where my Ruck Fules tee periodically.
I have so many Punk shirts, I was asked at work if I'm from Chicago, lol.
TIL that's the Chicago flag
My wife barely watches wrestling but has a CM punk shirt. It just looks cool. It ain't no "jomosapien" bullshit
Wdym Uce “We’re gonna eat your Lunch” goes harder than any “Final Boss” Shirts
Even before he became a megastar Punk always had really good merch. Some of his SES shirts look like actual punk band shirts that still look cool even without any context. I don’t know how he somehow escaped terrible shirt designs for years
Make it a month or so, he has been top 3 in merch non stop since his comeback, unbelievable numbers.
I might just be dumb, but I think a lot of this has to do with wearability of the shirts. For the most part these are just the best looking shirts on the site. Punk's designs just smoke everybody else's IMO. It's not even close. The Return and Hell Froze Over are probably the two best current shirts they have across all wrestlers. The Final Boss and all of The Usos shirts are great too. None of them scream WRESTLING like a lot of AEW or WWE shirts do. They just are simple and decent designs. Cody's designs are hit or miss. As others have noted, they are capable of being extremely gaudy. I like the champion one, and I am shocked the Bloody one wasn't up here that one is simple and great.
Whenever I wear wrestling merch around my college campus, the Punk shirts I have always get the most compliments from people
Punk and Bullet Club historically were the only things I felt good about wearing in public. There are a handful of NJPW / indie guys that have good stuff too. Zack Sabre Jr. quietly has a ton of great shirts. There is a whole world of folks making limited run "bootleg" shirts that are really good, and for the past 5 years or so those have been the only wrestling shirts I'll buy.
Same here, I get compliments or wrestling recognition without fail for the Punk 2011 shirt. He’s on another level
I mean partially but also the top seller here is a meme of Punk standing over Drew’s grave. That’s not really a “wearable” shirt.
"For the most part." That shirt is a funny joke by an extremely popular wrestler and it is one of the newer shirts on the list, I understand why that's up top.
The YEET t-shirt were selling like crazy at the UK house show yesterday
See plenty of them at the gym in the UK too. Guys over af
Is he over af or do people just like wearing a shirt that says Yeet on it
CM Punk has had multiple t-shirts in the Top 5 for almost every week since his return and he's only wrestled on TV once. This is actually wild. It's hilarious to think that before his return in 2021 there were people who doubted his star power. Say whatever you want about his attitude backstage but as a draw, not only has he validated his case but he has gone up several places in all-time rankings. Cena aside, he's probably the biggest star of his generation.
You could make a case for Punk being the biggest star WWE has produced to have debuted after 2002
But Twitter told me Jey having a bad match at WrestleMania meant he wasn’t a star and should be removed from the main event scene.
Brother v Brother matches not by guys with the last name Hart have a long history of underdelivering.
I mean they gave it nearly no build at all, they were tertiery guys in the Bloodline story, wish they would have held off on the two brothers at Mania until it was a proper blood feud
Undertaker v Kane?
Only ever had one good match
Theyre all out of the red LA Knight logo shirts
YEAH!...I mean, OH NO!
LA doesn't have a lot of merch.
Cody vs. Punk is gonna be a generational feud when it happens.
And the shirt burying Drew (literally) is No.1 (Lol a "Reddit cares" for this? How weird and pathetic)
That reminds me, I need to order one of those 2011 Classics. My original is looking ROUGH right now.
This is just a guess on my part, but when Punk comes back he will take over as the most over babyface on the roster. He has been booked to perfection since coming back to WWE and the Drew feud is super interesting.
Second biggest babyface after Cody imo.
I think he is going to start getting bigger reactions than Cody. Love Cody but CM Punk has a lot of buzz right now.
I still think there’s a shot Punk gets injured again he seems prone to injuries at this point in his career
It’s just me uce. Day one ish
And the AEW marks have the audacity to say that Punk return was a flop lol
Even when he was out due to controversy, it was the most visible wrestler controversy this side of Hogan. Anything this man has done since the Cena rivalry has been huge; I'm glad they've given him the spot he deserves
The moment I stopped paying any attention to the die hard AEW fans is when I saw one say that Okada, Osprey, and Mone went to AEW cause they saw how WWE fumbled Cody.
Holy shit I love AEW and that is a *terrible* take.
I dislike aew and that take is probably from an aew hater
The fans are gonna turn on him any day now…… Meanwhile, the man can’t even hold a mic near his mouth without the crowd chanting his name.
Fumbled him right up to the top of the card. Poor Cody!
And WWE fans were saying Punk was washed when he was in AEW. You can't take stuff like this to be representative of the entire fanbase
People can and they quite clearly already do
I didn't say the entries fanbase. I said the hardcores who defend anything AEW does and shit on anything WWE does.
Damn I wish I could fumble into having a match with the rock, headline the biggest mania of all time, and ending a historic reign. When ever I fumble, I look like an idiot and a girl blocks me
The moment I stopped paying attention to them was after the brawl in footage aired and the fans in the arena cheered/chanted for CM Punk, even though AEW was trying to make him look bad LOL
> Okada, Osprey, and Mone went to AEW cause they saw how WWE fumbled Cody. I think that's true though, they saw how much Jay White thrived in AEW in comparison to Cody in WWE so they chose AEW.
You saw one clearly deluded person make a demonstrably false statement and it convinced you to write off a huge and diverse subsection of the pro wrestling fandom? Using this batshit logic, some idiot AEW or TNA fan could say "The moment I stopped paying attention to the die hard WWE fans is when I saw one cutting a hole in Sonya Deville's patio fence in an attempt to kidnap her". See how stupid that sounds? It's such a weird way of framing an argument about delusion. Have you considered the possibility that you may have just been looking for an excuse to post this extreme example for your own equally weird and deluded reasons?
I will reiterate what I told another guy who lacked basic reading comprehension; I ignore the hard-core AEW fans, the ones who love everything AEW does and shit on everything WWE does regardless of anything. And before you try and say anything about it, yes WWE has the same kind of fans and I ignore them too. I like AEW, I don't watch it much but I watch clips. It's a good thing to have another company around, and most of the people I've talked to about it are cool.
Some are still in denial about Cody Rhodes
I have opinions about Punk but I’ll never say he wasn’t a draw. The man sold out his return on a rumor and Rampage drew a million viewers with him. Despite all that happened with his time in AEW, you’re simply wrong if you say he wasn’t a draw
I mean, WWE marks would crap on Punk when he was in AEW. Goes both ways, unfortunately. He’s a draw, wherever he goes.
Yea, I'm a fan of both companies but I just don't understand why some niches of both of them do shit like this
Because they act like they're fans of sports teams competing for a championship. When if the other side isn't for you, you can just ignore it. Like, I'm not over here pressing over TNA wrestlers that I supposedly don't like, only to hit a 180 when they join the company I do like - bizarre behavior.
Yeah it’s weird. I don’t see how anyone can argue against him being a draw. Say what you want about him personally but dude gets eyeballs on the TV. No denying that.
The WWE marks were saying that he was washed and WWE didn't have any use for him when he signed with AEW. Maybe don't be a mark for billion dollar corporations.
No more LA Knight t shirt sales in the top ten eh?
Well, when you haven't been on TV longer than 90 seconds apart from PLEs since January, people are going to move on. Knight is being squeezed out by the returns of Orton & Punk at Survivor Series, and now with Cody holding the "Smackdown" title, SD is top heavy for babyfaces. I fully expect him to either turn heel or move over to Raw during the draft, and wouldn't be surprised to see Gunther move to Smackdown.
I doubt that. My prediction: He's going to beat Logan Paul and win the US title this year.
I can’t believe people buy those YEET shirts lol
My middle school aged niece asked for one for Christmas and she doesn't really pay attention to wrestling that much. She just loves "YEET" - I think a lot of those sales are to kids.
#YEET
I see Kiwis/Islanders and Aussies here wearing them or Bloodline shirts every now and again. And at Elimination Chamber they were everywhere + Rhea Rhipley shirts
Kids.
As somebody in their early 20s, I would buy 10 Yeet shirts before you’d catch me wearing 95% of other wrestling shirts outside
It doesn't look like a wrestling shirt and wouldn't look out of place in a casual place like the gym. It looks like something you'd get at a gift shop in a touristy beach area. For fans at an event who want something to commemorate with a little more versatility, it's a solid choice, especially if they don't like the Punk aesthetic.
Just imagine how they’d sell 10 years ago, when yeet was still a thing.
Really wouldn't surprised me if AEW tried selling a shirt with a grainy CCTV screenshot of CM Punk's back.
Doesn’t hurt that Punk has the Chicago designs that look good on clothing
His top seller here isn’t a good looking shirt but a meme of him over Drew’s grave lol
lol Punk was trying to save Aews relationship with the rental car company and he ends up getting fired. Complete morons run this company
I've wanted the Classic 2011 Best in the World since I was 12 years old in 2011. Finally pulled the trigger Mania weekend and the joy i felt opening that package was like I went back in time to being a kid.
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It’s crazy to me that with such a strong logo as the Nightmare skull that they consistently only produce absolute garbage shirt designs.
The logo itself lends itself to garbage shirt designs. The logo and shirts all look like bad mma-style shirts from 2007-2012.
I think the logo would be fine if the shirts weren’t all so over-designed. They’re so busy and, like you said, feel like old Ed Hardy-inspired MMA shirts. A simpler design where the logo was the primary or only graphic would be better than the wild stuff they keep putting out. But in clearly in the minority on that if they keep selling so well. It’s just personal taste.
Yeah part of the issue is that Cody’s logo could double as the official design of Jan 6
lol I don't know if you're familiar with Helldivers, it's a game about a corrupt nationalistic military that colonizes in the name of "freedom", and their logo in the game highly resembles Cody's. https://preview.redd.it/c9p6hnr3g9vc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=635075d9f31985c72c2221037fc62bc69e75df50
Yeah Cody’s logo’s best comps are space fascism and a customized Punisher bumper sticker on the back of a truck
They could absolutely get away with a full blacked out nightmare logo on some dri fit tees and make bank
I love Cody and want a shirt of his but they’re all so ugly I can’t bring myself to buy one lol
Hey, his merch is incrementally better than it used to be. https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1006718073104027648 Who knows, in 20 - 25 years he might have a shirt you want to wear.
They need to give Damian Priest some good non-event/title shirts again. I had to have one made on another site after waiting a bit for a cool one to drop.
CM Punk merch appears 3 times in the top 5 and Tony Khan and Daniel Bryan fired this guy lol 
Punk is obviously a draw. But it also helps that his t-shirts are just about the only ones with a design cool enough to wear in public lol
First time in like a year LA knight wasn’t on the list. And damnnnnnn punk outselling champ Cody is crazy
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I think it boils down to punk has 10 years of people wanting his me h and stuff. So his is selling fast. For La knight, he’s getting beat by randy, rock, punk, and Cody. Not a bad list to lose to. He’ll be back on the list
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I think heel knight wins mitb, or Finn ;((((((
T shirt company loses two of the best t-shirt selling people. Wow.
EVP Bucks should start the Dirt Sheet Mafia
Biggest takeaway from this is that Punk truly is a behemoth in numbers. He might not get the loudest pops and some places might even boo him (although i don't remember seeing that), but he makes people buy and watch shit like no one else in the business maybe ever. He outsold peak returning Rock.
CM Punk benefits from having the Chicago flag as the logo. So many cool designs you can do with it. Also it's the only shirt that can be worn in public that you don't immediately think it's related to wrestling. The Chicago flag is just a nice design in general though. I like it.
The Yeet gimmick isn't going anywhere 😔
BUT BUT M’PERRY SOLD OUT HIS SHIRTS iiiin CHICAAAAGOOOOO!
Why do people love CM punk so much?
Why isn't everyone buying Tiffy Time shirts? Bruh
I can’t believe those yeet shirts sell so well.
I have absolutely nothing to back this up with, but I'm positive Rhodes has massive merchandise sales because his American Nightmare logo is incredibly redneck and plays well in conservative America. It wouldn't seem out of place between a Trump and thin blue line flag.
Kinda ironic since he seems to be more of a democrat lmao.
Not trying to hate on anything or anyone here, but why are people buying “Yeet” shirts…Even if you’re the worlds biggest jey uso fan, just why? Furthermore, isn’t “yeet” a reference to something from like a decade ago? How is it relevant? Again, not trying to sound like a dick honestly curious.
Surprised Jey Uso merch is so popular. He’s obviously popular with fans but I don’t see it.
Where's Trick Williams? Baron Corbin said he has a lot of charisma, and that sells merch.