AEW and NXT Wednesday Night Wars: 3 winners of night #10

Cody

At some point, it’s going to become tedious to lionize Cody for his dexterous mic skills. It’s amazing to think that this guy went from trying to get the most out of the dead-on-arrival Stardust gimmick in 2014 to one of the most authentic protagonists in wrestling by the end of the decade.

His most recent A+ promo came on this past Wednesday’s Dynamite, covering topics that ranged from his wife, Brandi Rhodes, cutting off women’s hair to his desire to wrestle the duo who blindsided him the week prior: The Blade and The Butcher.

He saved his best stuff, however, for his friend-turned-archnemesis, Maxwell Jacob Friedman. After Cody took some time to deride MJF as a discount Chris Jericho and bury his version of the Cross Rhodes — which was also a subtle dig at Damien Priest — he enticed the youngster with some of “The American Nightmare’s” most cherished possessions in exchange for a match before dropping this bar: “I still think MJF is the future, but an education is the passport there and I’m going to educate you. I’m going to teach you. I’m going to harm you. I’m going to lacerate you. All you need to do is name your price.”

In about seven minutes, Cody hyped up a future tag match with BBB (not Big Baller Brand) and contrasted his desire for a one-on-one match with MJF with MJF’s materialistic heel schtick and did so with the ease of pouring a glass of water, just as a top babyface should.