All Elite Musings - #1 Booking Brandi

All Elite Musings

#1 Booking Brandi

   Brandi Rhodes is a divisive character within All Elite Wrestling. As Chief Brand Officer and wife of Cody Rhodes, she is also a prominent figure. She is a charismatic individual and clearly a very talented woman. However, she has often faced backlash on Twitter over her position in AEW. Be it, her appointment as CBO or her in-ring opportunities. Fans often claim she is benefiting from nepotism.

   I am not going to focus too much on this claim, I am going to look at how best to maximise her substantial potential. Is she in her positions because of her relationship with Cody? Maybe, partially. But we don’t know how involved she has been in Cody’s rise to prominence, we don’t know what goes on behind the scenes at AEW and as for in-ring, she has clearly progress significantly. What is clear is that she is an incredibly talented and driven woman.

   Brandi Rhodes is currently a heel in AEW. This is what I wish to muse over in this article. It seems the obvious route, one that is tried and tested and one that she is very good at. Her run with Cody in ROH saw the two of them as entertaining uber-heels, this being her most prominent role to date. However is this really the right route for her?

   Before Fight for the Fallen, she did an interview as part of Road to Fight for the Fallen where she spoke candidly about her past struggles with performance anxiety. This was well received and many believed it to be a face turn of sorts. This didn’t materialise with her playing the heel in her match with Allie.

   This match was criticised by some fans on Twitter. These fans believing her not to be on the level of other women in AEW. However, in the previously mentioned video she had cited this stating that she often struggled when the lights are on bright. Lots of fans will have connected with this and been able to relate to it. She put herself across as a relatable character which is a precious commodity in any form of celebrity.

   Why not run with this. Be the real Brandi Rhodes, if this is indeed the real her, the hard-working individual who has built herself from the ground up alongside her equally hard-working husband. In this way when she has weaker performances she can reference that struggle and talk about how she is training. Therefore, her stronger performances, which I believe are the norm, can become Bayley-esque moments.

   Her endless reserves of charisma can drive forward either character. The fire that was present in the recent Road to All Out video would also fit really well with a babyface character. I believe this character would be a departure from the norm for Brandi and a very interesting avenue to explore.

   In the end, her charisma and work ethic make her an incredible talent regardless of who she is married to. She has clearly earned her place and is an important figure. It seems possible that as AEW progresses Cody will become a maniacal heel again as the company doesn’t have many established heels outwith Chris Jericho. Perhaps, her current heel role is a precursor to this. Or perhaps they have just decided that the women’s division is best served with a heel Brandi Rhodes in the mix.

   After her ‘Road to…’ work I am intrigued to see how her AEW role grows over the next few months.