Next week, we find out who will become the inaugural TNT Champion.
A tournament began back on April 8th to determine the two finalists who would go on to compete for the title at Double or Nothing. The finals were set two weeks ago, with Cody taking on Lance Archer.
There is certainly no love lost between the two; Cody has had plenty of issues with Archer and his manager, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, since the two debuted back in March. It all came to a head last week on Dynamite, where the two brawled until Roberts and Archer retreated.
Both are riding a wave of momentum heading into Double or Nothing, but I believe that Cody is going to emerge victorious on Saturday.
Since the beginning, Cody has been the face of All Elite Wrestling. You can even say that he’s the heart and soul of the promotion; he commands respect wherever he goes, and his passion is second to none.
What is also undeniable is his connection with the fans. After being severely underused in WWE, people wanted to see what he could do once he was able to show his full potential. He responded by becoming the hottest wrestler on the independent scene, taking promotions such as Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling by storm.
Then came that fateful day in May 2017, when Dave Meltzer claimed that an independent wrestling show couldn’t sell out a 10,000-seat arena in the United States. Cody and The Young Bucks took that as a challenge, and All In was born. Tickets for the show sold out in less than 30 minutes.
The show was a massive success and was highly touted by both fans and critics alike. It also helped lay the foundation for the formation of All Elite Wrestling. To see what Cody has accomplished since leaving WWE is nothing short of incredible. He’s the perfect example of how hard work and dedication will help you achieve anything you set your mind to.
However, there is also another reason why I think he’s winning the TNT Championship.
Late last year, Cody earned an opportunity to challenge Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear. He raised the stakes by announcing that if he lost, he would never challenge for the title ever again.
He ended up losing to Jericho (thanks in part to MJF), which confirmed that we would never see him at the top of the AEW men’s division. It was kind of hard to imagine someone with Cody’s star power not holding the most prestigious title in the promotion.
So, I think they created the TNT Championship out of necessity. They basically backed themselves into a creative corner and realized they needed another title that one of their top stars could hold.
That and they needed to add another layer to Cody and Archer’s feud. When the full tournament bracket was released, everyone knew these two were going straight to the finals. Cody was the scrappy underdog, beating Shawn Spears and upsetting Darby Allin. On the other hand, Archer bulldozed through Colt Cabana and Dustin Rhodes.
Whether you agree with who won, you can’t deny that these two will bring the house down on Saturday. This is extremely personal, especially after Archer and Roberts targeted Cody’s wife, Brandi, a few weeks ago on Dynamite.
While The Murderhawk Monster and his manager might be underestimating Cody, it should be the other way around. Once you go after his family, The American Nightmare will stop at nothing until he gets retribution.
He’s also shown that when the lights are brightest, he always knows how to rise to the occasion. Nothing will get in the way of a man on a mission, and his mission is becoming the inaugural TNT Champion at Archer’s expense.
I think it’s about time that one of the faces of AEW gets the chance to call himself a champion. He’s worked his butt before the promotion even existed, so he should finally be rewarded. But let’s be honest, it should have happened a very long time ago.
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