It doesn't feel right coming out of my lips, or out of my fingers, but last night's Hell In A Cell pay per view was pretty enjoyable. Asuka, Bianca Belair, and Becky Lynch are three of the best workers in the world, so it didn't hurt that they started it with a 20 minute, three-way song. The middle matches were pretty close and ended in a tidy fashion. Some clean matches with quality work will hopefully boost some of their biggest names onto better things.
It was in the main event that the main headline came out, whenCody Rhodes wrestled with the right half of his body looking like it was being possessed by a demon. Rhodes had torn his pec while working out before the show and the commentary told us as we tried not to gag up our dinner. It was not possible that the match would go on when word of his injury was spreading over the internet.
It seemed crazy when Rhodes removed his Homelander robe to see what the injury looked like. The shade of purple, red, and black made you wonder if your TV wouldn't start playing warnings of tornado watches in your area. It was clear that Rhodes couldn't use his right arm in any meaningful way.
He and Rollins deserve a lot of credit for working around Rhodes limitations and making it the epic it became, but they are not miracle workers for finishing the match. Both skillfully played on the injury.
The question is whether Rhodes should have been allowed to take part. It's his career and his body. He knows what he can and can't do, and he decides what he wants to risk and what he doesn't. A torn pectoral is probably not going to get any worse than it is. It's already fucked. That is what happens when something is completey fucked. It is up to Rhodes and how he handles it, and there has been no report of him doing anything to compensate for what he didn't have. He was a veteran and was acting under the guidance of a doctor so he knew what the parameters were.
There was a desperation to his insistence on taking risks like this that fits into his character perfectly. It is that desperation where your mileage can vary. To other fans it was a dedication and emotion that they couldn't get enough of. It was in the midst of his refusal to be a heel that he fell away from the top of the card. Even though things had moved on, Rhodes' act seemed to be someone trying to take the spotlight from him. He was trying to do something on Aew. His promo about solved racism, his baking in a fake retirement speech, and his diving through a flaming table with Andrade needed to grab the attention of Malakai Black. There are many examples.
He put himself through this booking when fans wanted to see others playing a more prominent role, even though he wouldn't turn on them. It felt like it was more and more desperate for him to get a prominent place on the card, and he was moved farther and farther away from that.
Going out there with an entire side mashed with sadness and pain is only furthering that line of actions out into the water. When it feels like he just can't stand the thought of not being the center of attention, it's because he wants everyone to pay attention to how much this means to him and how much he loves wrestling and how badly he needs it. Rich Hill in his 40s is yelling and screaming at everyone in the stadium to know how much he cares. Shut the fuck up and pitch sometimes.
He has been the center of attention since he came back to New York. Rhodes is one of the most popular wrestlers in the company right now. He felt like he locked down a place in the company when he showed up at the event. Even though Rhodes is going to be gone for a while after surgery, the booking is still strange. It could be five months or so. It would have made sense for Rhodes to be out of the picture for a while. Rolllins lost toCody three times on PLEs, including when he only had one arm, and it was just in time for him to be out for up to half a year. Who received help?
The guy wrestled Hell In A Cell with a torn pec. Thanks to the policy of limited violence and no bleeding, the cell matches have lost some of their shine. It was done by just bleeding internally before it began. Rhodes brought some level of gore to these matches. Whatever the context, it is an amazing feat. Rhodes has never had a problem with his work in the ring. This was the same as every other one, and maybe even all of it.
It is sad that the reward for the last act will be an extended absence. It isn't that much of an extension of what he'd been doing before he left AEW and went back to wrestling. He needs to be proving himself again and again. Even if he leaves the house.
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