AEW Fallout: Cody claims Darby lacks the mental aptitude to win TNT tournament, more!

The big stories coming out of Dynamite (Apr. 8, 2020) were Cody Rhodes advancing in the TNT Championship tournament and Britt Baker getting bloody. The fallout from the show includes Cody having harsh words for his tournament competitors and Baker being immortalized on a shirt.

We’ll start with a promo from Cody Rhodes. It was released shortly before Dynamite aired, but it is still worth watching since he addresses his opponents in the TNT Championship tournament. Cody fired off some scandalous thoughts.

Cody begins by expressing his motivation as being driven by not wanting to lose. He then runs down the other 7 wrestlers in the tournament. Colt Cabana is loved by all. Since Cabana has no enemies, Cody doesn’t trust him. When two wrestlers live together, such as Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford, that means Kip will either rise up or become complacent. Shawn Spears mentally defeats himself. (That turned out to be true.) Sammy Guevara has a nasty mean streak. Cody believes Dustin is the best wrestler in the tournament. He loves his brother and doesn’t want a rematch. Cody is not afraid of Lance Archer. Cody closed by claiming the others want to win the TNT title, but he needs it.

Cody’s most intriguing take was on Darby Allin.

“Darby. I’m not going to take credit for Darby, but I feel like I handpicked Darby. He’s clearly the fastest rising star in all of wrestling in any company, hands down. He’s putting on weight by the day. He’s assassin quick. But, Darby is a freshman on the varsity squad. I don’t think he has the mental aptitude to finish this tournament.”

Cody’s not necessarily wrong in that assessment. Darby hasn’t proven himself as a winner yet. A common theme in sports-talk is always doubting a particular player or coach until they win the big one. This tournament is Darby’s chance to silence the doubters, especially Cody.

The whole promo from Cody certainly was interesting. I hope the intention wasn’t to make me root for him, because it did not work. Cody straddles the line of confidence and arrogance. For a wrestler that hasn’t even reached the top in his own company, he sure has a sizable ego. Cody’s words make me want to root for Darby in the upset. If Cody gets to the final, then I’ll be rooting for Archer to pummel him. In that sense, the promo was a success. I’m more emotionally invested than I was before.

Whether Cody wins or losses, he’ll always have Pharaoh and the Cheese Boys by his side.

Alan Angels made his Dynamite debut by losing to Lance Archer in quick fashion. It is easy to lose perspective as a fan at home when seeing a random wrestler pull jobber duty, but Angels reminds us all of the dream opportunity he received.

Time to check in on Hangman Page.

Hangman also found time to promote the current sale for the AEW merch shop.

The 20% sale is for Pro Wrestling Tees as a whole. It expires on April 13 at 1 pm ET.

Take advantage of the savings for a sweet Le Champion hot tub tank top from Chris Jericho.

Even better, celebrate Britt Baker’s bloody nose with her image on a t-shirt.

I want to see Baker wear that shirt to the grocery store. I imagine the reactions would be quite funny from people who don’t know anything about professional wrestling.

What is your reaction to Cody Rhodes’ promo? Do you agree with his analysis of Darby Allin?