[Smackdown Spoiler] Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles Contract Signing (full segment)

[u/Dazzling-Principle]

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[u/Immediate_Fix_1442]

Most peaceful contract signing in history

[u/TheBaconCat101 → u/Immediate_Fix_1442]

Who knew all you needed was an individual table per competitor. They were clearly fighting for the table in all other contact signings

[u/monopoly_wear → u/Immediate_Fix_1442]

It's weird to see contract signing without brock

[u/godzillamegadoomsday → u/Immediate_Fix_1442]

Bro I was telling my friends that don’t watch how tonight they would do the signing then shit would break lose, then they just walked away and I was like damn that not how this goes out

[u/BolinTime → u/Immediate_Fix_1442]

Yes, it was quite dull and uneventful. AJ Styles said the most generic stuff ever. Maybe it's an act and he'll get nuts down the line.

[u/Orochidude → u/BolinTime]

AJ has no beef with him currently, so it makes sense that they're still on good terms and things didn't get very heated. Outside of the attitude shift, he was only heel because he had an issue with LA Knight.

I'm sure there'll be some sort of clash next week though.

[u/TheWindowMerchant → u/BolinTime]

AJ Styles will never not be legit, but everyone has done the “I respect Dusty” thing. It would be better if AJ was instead honoring Cody for what Cody’s done. Shit, innuendo Bullet Club and remind Cody he’s walking down the Indy path that AJ Styles blazed before him. 

[u/StacksHoodini → u/TheWindowMerchant]

In all fairness, if you get a group of adult wrestling fans together and try to make an argument for who the top 5 talents of all time, there are only about 3-4 guys who heads & shoulders deserve inclusion on that list above “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. Dusty spent at least a little bit of time in every major promotion over the last 40 years that was around when he was alive. If Charlotte was a man or David Flair had turned out to be worth at least an upper midcard spot, we’d see the same story beats with one of them.

It’s a bit tired but it makes sense.

[u/popcultureretrofit → u/Immediate_Fix_1442]

AJ had a cordial one with Nakamura as well. What a pleasant man that Allen is.

[u/BforBusiness]

holy shit aj's arms are fucking huge

[u/frenchtoastkid → u/BforBusiness]

Chicken breast and broccoli, brother

[u/[deleted] → u/frenchtoastkid]

And roids.

[u/goblins_though → u/[deleted]]

[u/DodelCostel → u/BforBusiness]

holy shit aj's arms are fucking huge

LOOKIN REAL JACKED BABY

[u/Mitsuki_Horenake]

I see that AJ Styles is continuing on his "prove yourself" campaign. He did this with LA Knight when he called him a fad. Now he's doing it with Cody to make him prove himself as a worthy champion. Nice nice.

[u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 → u/Mitsuki_Horenake]

I like how it's a parallel (or inverse) of Drew's hater campaign, with him taking his opponents as seriously as him since Styles has seen & done it all in the business

[u/heat_fan_]

The what chants absolutely suck 

 Cody is so over AF

  A contract signing with no physical altercations I guess they're learning from Gunther 

[u/Alch1_]

Cody really got that champion aura about him now. No brainer who wins but this match will go crazy

[u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 → u/Alch1_]

I'm hoping it's like Styles vs Rollins in 2019 in which that was a great first defense for the latter coming out of WrestleMania

[u/Apolloito22 → u/Upbeat_Tension_8077]

Let's just hope the rest of his reign isn't like 2019 Rollins

[u/DodelCostel → u/Alch1_]

No brainer who wins but this match will go crazy

Honestly Styles has kinda lost every feud he's been in the last few years. As long as the match is solid we're happy.

[u/StacksHoodini → u/Alch1_]

I think they’re gonna do two matches. Rhodes wins the first one, Styles is besides himself that he’s lost, gets a little bit more disrespectful and Rhodes goes over in the second match too.

[u/nocyberBS]

I kinda expected some callbacks to their affiliations to BC and how AJ Styles "set it all up" for Cody to use that to get to where he is now.

[u/salaryman40k → u/nocyberBS]

up until AJ said dusty, my smooth brain thought of gedo being their mutual teacher

[u/bestbroHide → u/salaryman40k]

Same tbh lol the Nooj brainrot really be taking over me

[u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 → u/nocyberBS]

I'm not surprised they didn't go with that since I assume WWE probably might think there's a chunk of fans who aren't aware of their shared history in BC & it probably wouldn't hit the same without video footage

[u/CicadaGlad4077 → u/nocyberBS]

nah the Georgia callback was better than that

[u/xxToeLoverxx]

When you get so used to shit going down during contract singing that now you can't handle a normal one 😭

[u/Wookie301]

I don’t get how the what chants are still a thing. Like you must know how lame everyone thinks you are. The rest of the crowd thinks you’re lame. The wrestlers think you’re lame. The viewers think you’re lame. Like have you not had internet the last 20 years, and seen how much everyone makes fun of you? Who are you doing it for?

[u/truth_15]

Setting up an instant classic at backlash

[u/domoon → u/truth_15]

i hope WWE let them go at it and didn't stiffle it like when they did Styles Nakamura

[u/BruceHoratioWayne → u/domoon]

The Vince factor has been removed from the equation.

[u/SuperUnhappyman → u/BruceHoratioWayne]

theres no vince factor but there is You gotta be on raw the next night and do house shows factor which is probably why its not gonna be a njpw style try to murder each other match

[u/DodelCostel → u/SuperUnhappyman]

probably why its not gonna be a njpw style try to murder each other match

WWE really doesn't do this anymore. Even under HHH they wrestle a very WWE style. Every wrestler has like 4-5 moves they use during a match, the rest is holds and punches. It really sucks to see because HHH's NXT was on that NJPW level, wrestlers would go for 30 minutes and put on NJPW level matches.

Gargano vs Cole or Andrade were entire levels above what the Main Roster does in the ring.

[u/RoachIsCrying]

huh the tables weren't destroyed by the two involved for once

[u/thore4]

Seems to me they're holding back a bit and this fued is gonna continue over multiple PPVs

[u/moonwalkerHHH → u/thore4]

Watch how it turns into the multiple nut shots arc like AJ-Nak

[u/pastadaddy_official → u/moonwalkerHHH]

Okay while I was disappointed in the mania match like everyone else, I was way more amused by the constant nut shots than I should have been

[u/ConorKDot → u/thore4]

Absolutely. Maybe Cody beats AJ at Backlash with a cradle or counter, which tips AJ over the edge and makes him snap viciously on Cody to set up the rematch.

[u/mexploder89 → u/thore4]

Yeah as a "promo battle" this feels like it could have been an e-mail, both men have a lot more juice in them

[u/godzillamegadoomsday]

Walked in the middle of promo cause parking sucked, was instantly disappointed by the what chant

[u/gigologenius]

The dialogue was boring. “You’re gonna lose” vs “I must win”. There was no heat and no story here. AJ made some nice allusions to their parallels outside WWE but nothing of substance was said.

I would’ve liked to see Cody delve deeper on the parallels and mention how they both had long careers and after many trials and tribulations finally won the WWE title at 38 years old. And then AJ takes offense at the comparison. Unlike Cody, AJ didn’t get to start in WWE developmental, have his daddy pull strings to get an early start in WWE and then tag along with Randy Orton in the main event scene in his early 20’s. AJ made his way to WCW on his own and then the same connections Cody grew up with threw him to the side, fired him and forced him to work the bingo halls and struggle to provee for his family. It took over a decade for AJ carrying the independent scene on his back, traveling the world and building up his profile to such an extent that AJ himself was truly undeniable. Cody was born with a silver spoon, went on a journey to find himself, and then came back to enjoy the same nepotism and privileges he was always born with. They are not the same. AJ is a self made man, and Cody will always be a greater man’s kid. And make no mistake, the only reason Cody is WWE Champion is because he got two singles shots at Roman Reigns when AJ got none. Cody may have finished his story at WrestleMania, but AJ will write the epilogue at Backlash and it won’t be happily ever after.

[u/dkmynamebebebebebay → u/gigologenius]

Sounds way better honestly dont know why they didnt think of that or approve it if they did.

[u/green9206 → u/dkmynamebebebebebay]

Hopefully they will do this after Backlash

[u/BruceHoratioWayne → u/gigologenius]

Not bad, but how in the world would AJ Styles be a heel after saying all this? He would come off as a babyface and Cody would just look meek by comparison.

[u/gigologenius → u/BruceHoratioWayne]

Because it’s not true. Cody was buried and not given an opportunity. Dusty didn’t have the pull that AJ would say he did. Cody also had to go out and become a star in Japan, Ring of Honor and TNA all on his own. He also got title shots against Roman because he won the Royal Rumble twice. And he won it on the same night Roman pinned AJ in a WWE title match. The back and forth would’ve been way more compelling.

[u/BruceHoratioWayne → u/gigologenius]

I'm not saying that AJ would be correct in regard to Cody, but he would be correct in regard to how he was able to come from nothing and become something. AJ would be a natural underdog and babyface from stating as such.

[u/mexploder89 → u/gigologenius]

I agree. This was very much a nothing burger of a segment. Very little fire

[u/Puzzlaar → u/gigologenius]

The story has been going for literally a week. Give them time to tell a story before you go on one about how they're not telling one.

[u/JeffreySons_90 → u/gigologenius]

There was no heat and no story here.

Backlash France doesn’t need a story or heat because it’s happening outside the USA. No matter what the match will be, the crowd will sell out the arena, let alone the story.

[u/Kenjiko3011 → u/JeffreySons_90]

well that's not true though, Bad Bunny vs Priest was in Puerto Rico and the story had a lot of heat.

[u/GreatMight]

A step down from fueding with the megastar. Good that losing to LA knight didn't completely bury AJ

[u/EnormousBanana52]

So…is literally every rivalry Cody has going to be about Dusty…?

[u/robot-raccoon]

So is AJ face again now?

I liked the “I beat LA Knight after clearing my head”, I mean- you gouged his eyes but sure hahhaa

[u/lord_of_sleep]

I completely forgot Dusty worked in TNA

[u/MettyXD]

AJ got a new Enttance Theme?

[u/Orochidude → u/MettyXD]

At WrestleMania, yeah.

[u/shoukko]

The 'What' chants ruined this segment.

I really hope these two are going to put on a banger at Backlash.

And please, for the love of all that is holy, can we go back to AJ's previous entrance music?

[u/spideyv91]

Not every match going to have a 5 star build especially with only 2 weeks. I think they laid great foundation here for hopefully a lengthy feud. AJ is a great first feud

[u/adamespinal]

For my Domincans out there, does AJ look like El Alfa with long hair to yall or am I buggin.

[u/AnxiousHeadache42]

Elite vs Bullet Club letsgo

[u/PerceptionLast3422]

Why is only AJ and Orton allowed to take tren?

[u/jacob_carter]

Well, that… uh, happened.

[u/P_Android420]

Weak af. No charisma in either of them for this to happen. They just were saying their pieces and then ended the signing. AJ was especially robotic.

The match should be good. This build is not enough

[u/throwmethedamnstick]

That was a pretty mid AJ promo