CAGEMATCH » Promos Database » "Pledge yourself to The Nightmare Collective"

"Pledge yourself to The Nightmare Collective"

Promo

Promo Data

Title:

Worker(s):

Brandi Rhodes, Mel

Date:

04.12.2019

Promotion:

All Elite Wrestling

Event:

AEW Dynamite #10 (Card with guide)

YouTube:

Watch it

Promo

[Awesome Kong and Brandi Rhodes make their way to the ring at the conclusion of the match between Kris Statlander and Hikaru Shida. In recent weeks Rhodes has adopted a more sinister appearance, and her and Kong have made a habit of attacking the women of AEW and cutting off a piece of their hair to take as a kind of trophy]

Brandi Rhodes: "People often loathe what they can't understand; because it scares them - and no one likes to be afraid - so you've all been clamouring, trying to explain what it is that we've been doing. Who the hell do we think we are, huh? Well perhaps I can shed a little bit of light for you on this subject. Myself and Awesome Kong, we make up The Nightmare Collective; an extension of The Nightmare Family, sure - but we do the jobs that no one else wants to do. We execute those jobs exactly how we see fit, and no one ever asks any questions. That is how we prefer it. [to Statlander] I had no business here with you tonight, Kris, yet here you are all up in my business. And that creates a precarious situation for me... But perhaps an opportunity for you... As I said The Nightmare Collective is a part of a grander family, and families aim to grow so, tonight, you will be the first. Pledge yourself to The Nightmare Collective - we will take care of you, we will elevate you, you will have a home, here, with us. [the crowd urges Statlander not to do it] Pledge yourself to us... right... now. [Statlander shows no intention of agreeing, leading Kong to go face-to-face... But meanwhile a female fan in the crowd is insistently asking for an opportunity to pledge...?]

Mel: [in the crowd, off-mic] "Brandi! Kong! Brandi! Kong! Come on, I'm over here! I want to pledge, hey, I want to pledge! Come on, I want to pledge. I love you guys, please. I love you guys. Please let me pledge... Please, please let me pledge." [security open the barricade to let her out of the crowd, and she makes her way into the ring. Meanwhile Statlander and Shida have departed] I'll pledge, I'll pledge! Here! [Mel lifts up a strand of hair for Awesome Kong to cut off, which she does with a ceremonial knife. Rhodes runs her hand through Mel's remaining hair] Take it all, it's all yours, it's all for you! [Kong cuts more hair off hair with the knife while Rhodes shouts for someone off-camera to bring her something... It turns out to be a electric razor and she removes the rest of Mel's hair as the segment ends]

1.81

Current Total Rating (?)

Valid votes: 25

Number of comments: 7

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Average rating: 1.64 [25]

Average rating in 2026: 1.00 [1]

Average rating in 2025: 1.00 [5]

Average rating in 2024: 2.00 [6]

Average rating in 2023: 1.77 [13]

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Latest comments of the CAGEMATCH inmates

RyanFitzmagic wrote on 23.06.2025:

[1.0] "One of the less successful parts of early AEW was the Nightmare Collective. Everything about it felt both boring and out of place, this promo was no different."

celticinvader wrote on 05.06.2024:

[3.0] "Brandi delivers this admirably, almost Cody-esque in her delivery, but the Nightmare Collective was such a strange and silly idea that I can't in good conscience cosign this at all. Especially once Mel starts piping up."

Vanstyler wrote on 31.03.2023:

[1.0] "This was SO weird, and of course the people were NOT into this. NC was a failed experiment, so not even a good promo would save them... and THIS was not it."

SIRasdf23 wrote on 28.03.2023:

[2.0] "One of the lesser ideas of early AEW was when Brandi, or somebody in charge of booking, thought it a good idea to make her the heel to beat on the women's division. So what did we get from this group? Brandi, someone who never really had the talent to be presented at the level she was. Awesome Kong, a trailblazer in 2000s women's wrestling who was well past her prime by this point in her career and simply had nothing left to give. Mel, someone who was there simply to fill numbers. and Dr. Luther, a guy who only got a job because he was Chris Jericho's friend."

texasyosh wrote on 28.03.2023:

[2.0] "I feel like there's a lot of misinfo about how "AEW's golden period" (throughout its short history)... was in the beginning? Trust me, it certainly was not this. Brandi's on-screen presence and attempts at making a heel stable didn't really elicit any reaction of any kind from the crowd, as she sort of stumbled her way through this promo."

CSTLW wrote on 28.03.2023:

[2.0] "The promo itself is fine, nothing special. But the nightmare collective was such a bad gimmick that I cant give it higher than a 3."

winston wrote on 28.03.2023:

[2.0] "The strangest thing about this promo for me was Brandi adopting a kind of psuedo-Cody-style delivery. I wondered if they practiced it together in advance, or it was just my imagination? Either way, it's fair to say Rhodes doesn't seem at home with her character, and the segment overall went too long. If things had gone on to develop well then I'd consider this a "shaky start" but unfortunately it didn't, and The Nightmare Collective stable and storyline were quickly abandoned. Even without that context however, it's difficult to consider this anything other than very poor."