>>10615688AEW did have soul at launch, and a lot of momentum too. I think it was convid that fucked them over. They never recovered. Brodie Lee's death was also a turning point. Their reaction to it was incredibly fake. Suddenly Brodie Lee was treated as if he was a top guy in the industry just because he died. You saw so many AEW talents acting as though Brodie's death scarred them, when most barely even knew him. He was in AEW for a cup of coffee. And all the stuff they did with his son was extremely cringey and very forced. Almost as a 'please don't sue us' deal with the wife. I'm not insulting Brodie Lee. He was a good worker. But the reaction to his death was awful.
And then shortly after that Semen Phil joined and after the initial surprise wore off, it was clear that Phil embodies the bitter old man stereotype even more than Bret Hart these days, which would be okay if Phil was one-tenth the worker that Bret was, but he's not.
Cody leaving did have a negative impact on AEW. That's clear now. but Brodie's death and Phil's arrival were the watershed moments.
