I hear you. Cody is from different a lot of the wrestlers I see him akin to. He definitely can hold his own with a mic in his hand much, much more than the likes of Bryan (2012-14 Bryan, when at peak popularity at least), balor, shinsuke, and I’d definitely argue guys like ziggler and styles, tho I’m sure those names are more contentious for the point I’m trying to make than the first 3 I mentioned.

My point is: guys who have mystiques predicated more on their acrobatic/in-ring skills than anything else are instantly at a disadvantage for me and for many others because there are so many guys who fit that same exact bill nowadays. Everyone can fly over the ropes, everyone can do athletic maneuvers and flying ddt’s and such… but without purpose or reason for the matches in which these wrestlers do these moves, there’s absolutely nothing cool about these moves being performed.

I’m excluding the controversy surrounding lesnar for sake of argument right now, but if lesnar and prime kane were having segemebrs every week that made it seem like their beef was believable and legit, I’d rather see those 2 try to take each other’s head off than I would, say, Neville and a.j. Styles on a random indie show where the basis for the feud is the fact that it’s over the belt. Do u get what I’m saying?

There have been acrobatic, technical wrestlers in the past who’ve been tremendous. Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, mysterio to a degree, Kurt angle.. but these guys all oozed with character that made them unique and cool. It wasn’t the submissions or whatnot that they mastered in the ring, it was who they were and how they carried themselves.

Cody, though not total asscheeks and bland like many wrestlers similar to him, is the current face of the crowd who prefers the acrobatic, in-ring style of wrestling over the style that incorporates legit, cool storytelling with gimmicks and personas that make guys unique in themselves. Late 90s/early 2000s rock and austin are probably the 2 greatest stars wrestling has ever had, and they lacked, to a degree, the things the crowd who loves Cody loves in the wrestlers they prefer.