>>12223151Back in 2007-08 I thought he was the most all-round talented wrestler of all time, not THE BEST at anything but good enough at everything that as an aggregate score he was the best.
By 2015-16 my opinion hadn't changed, and his NJPW mini-run and early AEW work was brilliant.
The latter period of his AEW run hasn't been great but there's a few factors in that:
>has hit perma-face legend phase but been resistent to turning back face>keeps fluctuating in shape, looked $1m in January and looks like shit now>hasn't had a noteable push, title run or anything consequential but has still had lengthy feuds & programmes taking up TV, meaning nothing he does feels that important yet also exists in its own vacuum ala Codyverse. Closest he had was the ROH Title which was a total afterthought belt and even moreso after Claudio won it, still is a joke prop.He should have had a tag title run with Sammy or a belt that people care about, he should have turned face ages ago, and he needs to keep his physique up. He's not diminished his legacy at all but he's done fuck all of importance for a while which is a shame as when he's in shape and got something to work with he's good.
Most of the hate is politics, or worse, politics by association, because 2023 is a terrible era for humanity, but he's been underdelivering compared to what he's capable of even at his current age.
