Right, but is WWE going to give him the same money AEW is giving Punk or Bryan? I'm still not getting why he would be more valuable to WWE than AEW. 

I think it's funny...this work is going WAY too far.

I don't believe for a second that Cody ACTUALLY left AEW, at least not in a more serious capacity than a REALLY good swerve. Like, he technically leaves, goes and does a few things elsewhere, then comes back and it was all part of an ongoing story of some sort.

I just don't believe he'd help FOUND a company, then leave a few years later. He had too much creative control and I never got the impression he actually cared all that much about money. I'm quite close to certain that this is all a VERY elaborate work.

What's that old Hulk Hogan quote:

"When you work a work, you work yourself into a shoot, BROTHER!!!"

Or something like that.

Again though... why?

AEW is well funded. They've been willing to make competitive offers to guys like Bryan and Punk. Even with Vince's pettiness I don't get why he would pay more than AEW, and Cody's creative control would be significantly diminished. Best I could figure is that Cody is trying to set himself up for post wrestling projects and the WWE exposure/legends deal will be more useful than AEW will be.

If he does show up, HHH and Steph vs Cody and Brandi for Mania. Would be a money match, even if it sadly means we'd have to see Brandi wrestle.

Raw has been pretty decent the past couple of weeks. The stories are hit or miss, as is inevitable, but everything ties into something long term that I want to see. The problem is that the payoff is frequently not worth it. We'll see how elimination chamber goes. Hopefully Rhea or Bianca wins. And Lesnar loses. Match with Reigns doesn't need another belt.

Tomorrow. 

If Cody is signing with WWE, I'm not sure if Saudi Arabia is the place. Are they plugged into the wrestling world enough that they would remember who he was in WWE, and better yet what he'd done with AEW? I dunno. 

I dunno about that. Obviously their social practices are backwards and disgusting as fuck, but it's not like a third world country in terms of access to technology.

So far this event has been pretty darn good. SPOILERS AHEAD OBVIOUSLY.

Miz vs Rey was a classic heel vs face match. Honestly nothing better than what you could see on Raw, but the crowd is super into it which elevated it a bit.

Goldberg vs Reigns was exactly what it should be. Despite a couple of brief moments to make you wonder if he could actually lose, Reigns dominated. They worked around Goldberg's limitations. Only problem was the ending. Goldberg was in the guillotine and tried to break it by ramming Reigns into the corner. Which means he could have easily grabbed the ropes... In fact, I'm pretty sure he DID grab the ropes, but match went on. It irked me.

Women's chamber match was excellent. All the girls in the match got a chance to look good and shine. There were some really great spots. Bianca is insanely strong and was able to hold Liv over her head with one arm. Rhea vs Bianca is a future main event, and they did a great job building the rivalry. Bliss looks to be in great shape in her return and had a fucking sick flipping DDT thingy on Liv Morgan. Excellent match with the right winner. If I had to nitpick, I'd say it was a bit weird to have Bianca come in last, especially because she won that right in a gauntlet match where she came in last by pure luck. Makes the win a bit less legitimate, although that could give Rhea a bone to pick.

Oh and the outfits... Ridiculous that they should have to wear them, but at least the outfits were better than they've been in the past. They didn't have to wear baggy T-shirts at least. Although, the outfits kind of defeat the purpose. If their plan was to prevent any men in the audience from getting horny, putting Liv Morgan in a tight red leathery outfit was counterproductive.

Speaking of outfits, having Rhonda wear a Gi was a stroke of genius. Fits the draconic restrictions while also emphasizing her credibility. Very clever. Rhonda also went light on the makeup which made her look super intense. Another really well booked match. The stipulation allowed Rhonda to play the face in peril without damaging her credibility. Also gave Naomi a chance to come to the rescue and look great in the process. Sonya's predictable reveal that her injury was fake was classic heel. I think the heels should have won here, but since Rhonda beat Sonya, both stories could move forward. Not an amazing match, but really solid and built the feuds well.

So far, so good. I've been thoroughly entertained. Enough to prevent me from being disappointed when Brock wins the chamber match? Only time will tell.

And the last two matches... meh. Spoilers.

Drew Mcyntyre is treading water. I like Happy Corbin and MadCap Moss's shtick, but don't need to see them in high profile matches. Especially this long. But the big thing that ruined this match for me was a fucking scary looking bump when Drew tried an Alabama slam and Moss landed right on his fucking head. Match should have been stopped, or they should have at least just gone to the finish. The match didn't need to go another 5+ minutes after that, especially cause this should have been a squash to begin with.

Lita vs Becky was... ok. It was nice to see Lita back. She had some flashes where she looked really good. But she seemed gassed pretty quickly. She wasn't terrible, but she also wasn't great. Not entirely her fault because time is going to go over us all someday, but unlike what they did with Goldberg, they didn't work around her limitations. But it was still nice to see Lita get a moment, especially considering how she was treated at the end of her run.

And... the Viking Raiders just got taken out before the match... I have mixed feelings. I didn't have a burning desire to see this match, but at the same time, they advertised it... 

So, that' kind of went downhill. The guy who just won the Royal Rumble now wins the chamber as well. Wonder why WWE can't build new stars. At least they took Lashley out of the match. It was hard to care considering how obvious the ending was. 

Mediocre show overall. First few matches were great, and it went downhill from there. Also shorter than an episode of Raw. At least one of the chamber matches delivered.