Brandi Rhodes

[1.0] "She was so out of place during her Ring of Honor stint. She actively dragged down her opponents to lower quality matches. She possessed nothing that is required to be successful in the ring. No timing, barely athletic, sloppy offense, below average bumping. She was just as bad on the microphone too. I'm not giving her a zero because her YouTube cooking show with other wrestlers was very entertaining and she seems like a sweetheart."

[4.0] "Brandi Rhodes had a presence, no doubt -- charisma, mic skills, and she carried herself like a star. But when it came to in-ring work, she just never fully clicked with fans or critics. Her matches were often serviceable at best, and she struggled to find her footing as a consistent performer. That said, she deserves credit for carving out a unique spot for herself, especially during AEW's early days. She contributed more outside the ring than inside it -- as a brand ambassador, creative voice, and manager. Not a standout wrestler, but not without value either."

[9.0] "In the ring, she's fine. I think she ended up sort of out of her era. Her talent would've really fit in with the WWE women's division at any time, where there were a ton of women to help elevate her. She was capable of putting on really fun little matches on the indies and in AEW, though nothing too complex. Though I will say her slingblade is like, unnaturally good, she performs it way above her talent level, it's a little weird lol. But moving away from that, she's golden at everything else. She's a very solid neutral ring announcer, nothing particularly "memorable, " but certainly very good at setting the stage. As a valet, she's one of the best of all time. A modern reimagining of the "Valet hits opponent with purse while ref is distracted, " seeing her hit spears in NJPW and against Dustin Rhodes were incredible moments that added a lot to the matches they were in. The Chyna or Sherri Martel formula, made to suit her own strengths in the modern age. Then there's her promos. And she has the widest range of high quality promos of every year she's active. Her "Brandi on the Block" promos were super high energy, and got the crowd going, setting the arena on fire. But also, I adored her creepy promos with the Nightmare Collective, even if the angle as a whole was rubbish, her promos were incredible. Also, her vignette before being attacked by Britt Baker and Jake Roberts is one of the best pre-recorded promos in wrestling history. It still gives me chills."

[2.0] "I don't know if i have seen someone more annoying than Brandi Rhodes, she was terrible and so cringe that everytime i saw her i wanted to turn off my screen, why ? She was so sloppy inside the ring, her moves were sloppy and she tried to do stuff but it rarely worked or connected but his ringskills aren't the worst thing about, the worst thing about her is the acting, her promo with Dan Lambert when she threw her shoe was the epitome of that, she was unbearable and she was doing too much. Her role as a manager and as a ring announcer weren't that horrible though, the only things she was doing decently on screen"

[3.0] "Brandi has a great look and makes a very good valet, and would probably get a high rating if she focused on that role. However, her actual mic skill isn't particularly impressive, and her in-ring skill has never come together, certainly not matching up to the level at which she was featured in AEW or even the indies due to her connection to Cody."

[8.0] "[RATING SOLEY ON Announcing, Managing, & Backstage Stuff] Brandi is a good worker, on top of that shes an awesome manager. Ive seen a couple of her matches theyre fine, i they arent terrible, however its not as bad as people say they are. Brandis charisma comes into play for her valet roles, especially when managing Cody. I really enjoyed their TNA run against Mike & Maria, and that was also Brandis best match by a long shot. Her ring announcing might be in between good and sloppy, it can vary depending on the show & year if Im being honest. She also did some cool ass shit behind the scenes that she just doesnt get credited for, however if she ever wanted to return spending so time in the PC would be beneficial."

[4.0] "First saw her in NJPW during the Bullet Club drama, where she perpetually interfered from the sideline. But she didn't become truly grating until she was given a mic and a position in AEW. Her promo work could be decent to quite good, but her persona would vacillate from catty and shrill to agreeable and babyface for no reason between appearances. Her storylines were horrendous and made no sense. She also worked as a heel much of the time, with genuine go-away heat, although Cody clearly was a babyface and wanted to stay a face. Not a good wrestler."

[3.0] "Brandi Rhodes has not been overly impressive to me. Whether in ROH or AEW her promos were solid but not overly impressive. Her matches that I have seen were basic. Consistently tried to be pushed above her ability level and that hurts her."

[3.0] "Brandi just doesn't really get wrestling as much as you would think from the positions she has held. She should've never been coming up with her own storylines, let alone booking for other people. She never should've been considered as a regular wrestler on the roster. She was a terrible promo, never came across as likeable on the microphone despite all indications that she's one of the nicest people backstage, and had a habit of generating go-away heat and derision instead of anything AEW could work with."

[0.0] "It is rare you see someone with so little talent as an entertainer consistently pushed and treated like a star. While I do have a base level of respect for anyone who steps between those ropes and risks their physical well-being to be an entertainer, I simply cannot find one redeeming quality in Brandi as a performer. AEW tried to push her like Stephanie McMahon lite but Brandi lacks any of the qualities that has made Stephanie a quality performer through the years; I would go as far to say Brandi exhibits some of Stephanie's worst qualities. It is admirable the work she does outside of the ring and this review is not an indictment of her Brandi the human being. This is only based upon what I have seen on TV and unfortunately, like her very talented husband is wont to do at times, comes off like playing wrestler more often than being a wrestler. Only by the grace of the wrestling gods did the Rhodes duo leave AEW before we were expected to believe Brandi could hold her own against a legitimate fighter in Paige VanZant."

[2.0] "She's awful. Hogs TV time that could be used to establish other women, and overall an awful wrestler, an awful valet, an awful ring announcer."

[0.0] "I don't have much to say on this. Brandi Rhodes has a definitively unlikable onscreen personality, incredibly cringeworthy promos, and she's not even a good wrestler. In fact, she's actually an AWFUL wrestler. Her offense looks herky-jerky at best, usually it's like watching a three-legged cat trying to bury a turd on an ice pond. Why is the standard for women's wrestling in the United States this low."

[2.0] "Bad and boring wrestler. Low charisma. Horrible as a wrestling television character as well. Too bad that she is no longer a ring announcer. Should not be taking up time on a wrestling TV show at all. She is "Go Away Heat" worthy."

[2.0] "This is my subjective opinion but I find Brandi uninteresting in the ring or on the microphone, she is completely anti-charismatic and so far everything she has participated in AEW is a rather strange things and I only found her good as an interviewer and periodically as a valet."

[2.0] "Brandi is lucky she can talk, because she's so dreadful in every other regard related to wrestling that she'd be a 1/10 otherwise. Her offence is absolutely dreadful -- the sort that should only be seen by 20 people maximum in some school gym, and not on a national TV in a major promotion. She seems like she might be an okay person IRL, but every time AEW has given her a speaking or performing role she has always come across as incredibly insufferable and an absolute fast-forward. I especially hate seeing her try to "big up" herself as by acting all badass and ready to throw fists when she gets in disputes with other wrestlers, even some of the men, as if we don't all know that she'd be on the ground in seconds if she ever tried something. It's like she's desperate to match the connection that Cody has with the crowd, so she thinks acting stereotypically tough will help get her over as this "cool" character, despite everyone having seen enough of her work to know she's anything but that. The way that she gets to do things like that and never goes shown up seems to imply that she takes her on-screen role as a chance to stroke her ego, probably because she knows get can't otherwise impress from her in-ring work itself. It's a good thing that AEW realised she was never going to be any use as a consistent wrestler or even just on-screen character and decided to cut her from their main TV programming, but that doesn't stop the fact that that the Nightmare Collective and Nightmare Sisters (both two sorry attempts to cash in on her husband's existing brand, because he's actually talented) existed. It doesn't matter that they were never important to AEW's main stories, nor that they were almost instantly discarded; that AEW ever green-lit those ideas is totally embarrassing because it's a joke to think you could form a group with any semblance of credibility while basing it around Brandi. I can't believe Brandi even still wrestles on Dark, since she's not even good enough for that. The way she's been racking up wins while on Dark these past few months also has me now scared that AEW are trying to inflate her win-loss record before bringing her back to wrestle on Dynamite or Rampage and trying to package her as some 'big deal' we should take seriously, which would be a genuinely dreadful idea and drag the women's division even lower than it already is. I have no clue whether Brandi actually offers anything worthwhile while working backstage as one of AEW's higher-ups, but I do know that everything I've seen her do on screen has been extremely off-putting."

[8.0] "Brandi, bless her, is just not good in the ring. I wish it were not so, but she can't wrestle. They've tried to make it happen, but I don't think it's her destiny to be a legitimate in-ring performer. But on the flip side, Brandi is one of the best talkers in the company. She's a fantastic promo-- I can't think of many people in AEW I'd rather see with a microphone in their hand. Top 5 in the company, easily. She does great character work and I think could be a huge asset if kept in a managerial role. I'd actually like to see her do commentary-- when she's done it as a guest, she's been very good. So I like Brandi quite a bit, but I'd be perfectly happy to never see her wrestle on a regular basis again."

[1.0] "Walking proof that a background in athletics alone does not translate to wrestling ability. Though I have to admit I don't know much about figure skating, she seemed perfectly good at it in the video packages AEW have shown, so you would have thought this competency would have at least some bearing on a wrestling moveset. Not so, it seems. I'm about as happy for her and Cody as a person can be for two people they don't know personally in regards to their pregnancy news, but her time off has been a blessing too to the AEW women's division and Nightmare Family angles as a whole, though the latter are still poor. Her promo work is enough to salvage her a point though it has been wildly inconsistent. Seemingly everything Brandi attaches herself to within the world of pro wrestling is mediocre, she has nothing within her skillset to differentiate her from the worst of the pre-Revolution WWE women's roster whom I would rate similarly. Nepotism at its worst."

[2.0] "There is a lineage of more talented women in AEW's roster to be in the spot Brandi is in. She's much more believable as the manager for Cody, but Cody surrounds himself with far too many people."

[4.0] "She is a good promo, and a brilliant business mind. But my God, keep her out of the ring. She has put in hours of training, and I respect that, but some people cannot work if they put in 4 years without missing a day of training."

[6.0] "Really great personality and promo. Brandi Rhodes is great as an obnoxious heel and face, whether she's cutting a promo on the mic, or through her actions/body language in the ring. I feel the AEW women's division needs more big personalities as a whole and Brandi dwarfs most of them. As a wrestler she's definitely imrpoved a lot, but does nothing for me. Sometimes I feel she wrestles in a series of choreographed clunky spots, and it doesn't always flow the best. That being said, really great spear I feel she's best as a manager, since she can draw heat or sympathy with ease. Also, I feel the comparisons to Brie Bella is incredibly unfair, especially when she hasn't won a championship yet, doesn't have the strongest win/loss record, and has primarily been cutting promos instead of wrestling."

[5.0] "Brandi is a bit of a lightning rod among the internet smarks because of her dual role in AEW as a talent and an exec ?  way more so, honestly, than any of the male wrestlers who also have a similar dual role. She's not a great worker. In the ring, she's competent at best. I do think she can be pretty good character if booked well. The Nightmare Collective was obviously a disaster, and afterward she pretty much was just a generic happy babyface, which was better than the Collective but still not GOOD. But since the Nightmare Sisters angle started, and she's been going more in the direction of being an arrogant heel, I've enjoyed her work a lot more."

[2.0] "As a valet she is adequate but as an in ring worker she has a lot of work to do. It is impossible to become invested in her matches or storylines that revolve around her and not Cody. Some of the stuff I saw of her before AEW in ROH and the indies was alright but nothing special but her work in AEW has been very bad"

[0.0] "Queen of nepotism that's for sure. Not only does she pushes herself as much as humanly possible but she never stops. Despite the lack of results she insists on being in front of the camera no matter how good the rest of the roster is..."

[8.0] "Honestly? Best talker in AEW. One of the best talkers in the world. That earned her a positive rating alone. She gives promos that are like no one else's promos on any national wrestling tv program. She's incredible, really, a once in a generation talker. That being said? As a wrestler? She's okay. She's decent. Certainly not a "0-talent valet" like people say. She's mediocre. She can, however, be lead through a pretty good match when given a chance. She still needs to get some high spots in her moveset, and her footwork is still sloppy. But honestly? She's so SO much dedication to being a wrestler. To take a thumbtack bump at such an early point in her career? That's top level dedication to her craft, and I don't think that should be taken for granted. I really want to see her get in a great series of stories and matches, and I think we're getting close to that day."

[0.0] "Terrible wrestler, no charisma, constantly botching every match, it looks like she's constantly tripping in perpetual motion. And she sounds so fake when cutting a promo or being on commentary, and a bit forgettable on ring announcing."

[1.0] "Driving force behind the worst angle in AEW (that is killing the women's division). Just awful on commentary without a script, like a cornered animal lashing out just going off on tangents and actively burying just about everything she can see. I've seen her cut a decent promo once so it's not a 0."

[5.0] "Stunningly beautiful. Solid manager/valet and a very good promo in the right role. Mediocre at playing other characters. Well-qualified for her CBO role at AEW (and appears to be doing a great job at that) but appears to be in over her head in terms of helping with AEW's women's division creative. Very green as a wrestler but is naturally athletic and has 2-3 cool moves. Probably too late for her to get good at that considering she's already 36."

[0.0] "obviously not a gifted wrestler with no charisma. she? s in aew just because of cody. Brandi is only thing that i hate in AEW and i hope they will cut her off the show ASAP. I remember that while she was in the wwe she wanted to wrestle so thanks to wwe for not letting her"

[2.0] "Shes got the looks but that is about it. Well she can talk but at times shes more cringy annoying than heel annoying hopefully theyll work on her wrestling or something because she does not deserve to be in the women's division of AEW. They have much better talent signed and loaned from other companies that she doesn't even compare to. I don't hate her in fact I like her but as a wrestler shes not good"

[2.0] "We've only just begun to see Brandi as she's now a semi-owner of the de-facto #2 company in America. It seems obvious that she's intent on giving herself a big on-air role despite being pretty poor in the ring & with her acting skills. I think she'd be better suited to just focus on the behind-the-scenes business developments, but I don't think that's how this will play out."

[6.0] "She's really good looking, she's a far better talker than many give her credit for, she is very good at getting herself and her charges hated or beloved but, in the name all things sacred, keep her from doing any actual wrestling because she's way beyond awful in that role. There are plenty of skilled wrestlers out there who need the help of a capable mouthpiece to get over and Brandi can fill that role perfectly well and I really hope she'll be used in that capacity in AEW because the world needs more capable managers like she is."

[7.0] "While she definitely needs more training, she makes up for with mic skills, storytelling, and charisma. She stays getting a huge reaction from the crowd, and you can't say that's because of Cody because she takes bookings for shows that Cody isn't even on and still gets the same reaction. She literally more and more every time I see her in the ring, so you know that she's legit trying her best at this. Have yet to see a "terrible" match with her in it anyways, so I'll give her a seven."

[3.0] "Brandi Rhodes is a former WWE announcer and the wife of former WWE wrestler, Cody Rhodes. Brandi is currently "wrestling" for TNA and I'm not quite sure why? No question Brandi is very attractive and good on the mic, but she is not ready to be on TV as a wrestler. She's extremely green in the ring and is a dangerous person to work with because she is so inexperienced. She has moments where she performs moves decently(mainly just her finisher), but it's clear to anyone that Brandi looks very unsure of what she's doing 90% of the time, and I genuinely feel bad for her because I do think she is trying her very best. If TNA has any interest in her becoming good, I think it would be smart to have Brandi go to a wrestling school or work the indies and see if she gets better. Brandi is not a hopeless cause, but I think she needs more training to make her more comfortable in the ring."

[2.0] "I don't know how this overrated piece of eye candy is ranked so high. Sure she is stunningly beautiful but what else does she bring to the table? She is not a good performer or actress, not good on the mic or in the ring. Blah."

[6.0] "She is definitely hotter than Georgia asphalt in July and Cody is a very lucky dude but this ain't no beauty contest. An OK announcer but certainly not the best I've heard. Recently got a couple of tag team wins in TNA but not enough matches yet to take that into consideration. Been around only 5 years so probably has not hit her peak yet but gets just a 6 for now."

[8.0] "I haven't seen a lot of Brandi but I do know that she's training really hard to start her in-ring career. Also she has the looks and athleticism to be successful. I can't wait to see what she and Cody can do in TNA!"

[5.0] "Eden Stiles is a very good looking woman, her ring announcing is a bit shaky, definetly not up to par with fellow Diva announcers Lilian, JoJo and Dasha Fuentes, but I'm not sure she'll leave anytime soon."

[5.0] "Cody Rhodes is a lucky man to marry Eden Stiles but, I definitely don't think Eden is the greatest ring announcer out there. Eden sounds like a screeching owl every time she talks on the mic. I miss Justin Roberts more."