No one deserves anything. You get what you ask for, and some times you get nothing at all. That's life. Deserve has nothing to do with it. And I have no clue how CM Punk plays into this. Wrestlers are going where the money and opportunity will be. Right now for Cody, it ain't AEW.

AEW isn't just Cody Rhodes. It is a billionaire that locked down a sizeable TV deal. People obsess over demo and viewership because that is what will keep AEW going. And that will get them an even bigger TV deal mid-2023. Tony Elite has to play the long game. Talent will come and go. Great talent is tough to lock down when you are 2nd fiddle and you have bigger, younger stars with contracts coming due. AND... the market is flush with talent.

This is a tough deal, but it isn't the end of the world. Cody going to WWE (or anywhere else) is great marketing for AEW. And if the WWE treats Cody as anything less than Seth Rollins-level, wrestlers on the other side of the fence will notice and think twice.