I thought Cody was a decent mudcarder in his first run, and thought him acting like a big deal on the indies was a joke, until the first 6 months of AEW.
His promos, presentation, and storyline ideas that were clearly his in the Jericho and MJF feuds were GREAT and he was doing some of the best stuff in the last 5 years if wrestling for that 6 months.
Then COVID hit, and the rest of his AEW run was hit and miss, but that first 6 month run showed me he had at least the potential to be what he is now.