AEW: Cody Rhodes should refrain from taking shots at WWE superstars like Bayley

AEW’s first show, Double or Nothing, will take place tomorrow in Las Vegas, and there’s been plenty of buzz. But one of the big talking points for WWE fans has been Cody Rhodes’ unnecessary shot at Bayley, which took place while he was promoting the women’s triple threat match between Kylie Rae, Nyla Rose, and Britt Baker.

If AEW is successful, there’s no doubt that would be best for the wrestling business. The brainchild of “The Elite”, AEW has spoken about a promotion that will put wrestlers first, embrace unorthodox ways of presenting professional wrestling (such as the usage of analytics), and most importantly create a safe, inclusive space for fans.

That said, because there’s an undertone of competition with WWE, some people in the AEW camp have been too focused on taking shots at the biggest promotion in the business.

It’s one thing for, say, Chris Jericho to declare war on WWE while more seriously pointing to AEW’s larger goal of being another place where pro wrestlers can ply their trade for a stable income. But it’s another thing entirely for Cody, one of the promotion’s founders, to take a random shot at a champion in WWE.

That’s what happened on a recent panel. While praising Kylie Rae for her bubbly personality and passion for wrestling, Cody decided to call out Bayley, the SmackDown Women’s Champion.

He said that Kylie is “not like wacky inflatable tube men pretending to be nice”.

Cody meant this as a joke, and he called Bayley “awesome” in a tweet afterwards.

The problem, though, is that even if Cody meant that comment in jest, it didn’t come off that way at all. Fans took the “pretending to be nice” comment as being directly about her, even if Cody can claim that the comment about the “tube men” was about WWE.

To many, it wasn’t actually a joke, if it was even funny at all.

Jokes are only funny to the “in-group”, and this wasn’t a harmless joke. If that comment were made by a friend of Bayley’s on the WWE main roster with Bayley as present company, it’d be acceptable since she would be in on the joke.

Here though, Cody is a a rival executive making this pandering comment in front of die-hard AEW fans at a Starrcast panel. That was his primary audience, so, in this context, it’s a “shot” – and a potentially personal one, as Cody said she was “pretending to be nice”.

Bayley is, by all accounts, one of the most wonderful people in the wrestling business today.

Cody and everyone else at AEW need to be more careful when making comments about WWE talent. If AEW is about making the wrestling business better and providing more options for wrestlers around the world, they need to stick to making comments about WWE management, if they even bother mentioning WWE at all.

Ideally, they’d focus on themselves, but I can understand the personal feelings Cody has about WWE.

Those feelings should not extend to cheap jokes, because they take on a different meaning when made by an executive commenting on a rival promotion’s talent in a negative way.

Cody should be able to hype up Kylie Rae without comparing her to Bayley too, as this is a disservice to two incredible wrestlers (and two incredible people in general).

I’m sure Rhodes didn’t mean to make this comment in a malicious way, but intent is immaterial. WWE fans didn’t take kindly to this comment, specifically the part about Bayley’s kindness, and from a business perspective, that underscores a different issue for AEW.

There’s a reason why WWE doesn’t mention AEW or other promotions. In marketing, the largest entity doesn’t engage in comparative advertising that references smaller competitors; they don’t need to confuse their audience by mentioning anyone else.

Smaller companies may feel the need to criticize the larger company’s weaknesses in order to promote themselves, though the argument can be made that everyone already knows who the biggest player in the game is, so a smaller company should just avoid engaging in tactics that potentially turn off prospective consumers.

Taking a shot at Bayley just days before your first show? Well, that’s a turn-off. WWE fans and fans of women’s wrestling in general were quick to express their disappointment at Cody’s remark. Since AEW is still in a stage where they must build their brand and attract paying customers, they cannot afford to alienate WWE fans.

Most (but certainly not all) avid watchers of WWE want AEW to do well, and would probably be willing to give AEW a try.

If AEW continues to cross the line by taking perceived shots at WWE wrestlers instead of just the corporate structure or creative storylines, they may be less willing to spend their money on a promotion that isn’t living up to its promise as a place that puts fans and wrestlers first.