By the end of his time in AEW, Cody Rhodes had managed to confuse fans as to whether he was a heel or face, and him coming across as a silver spoon fed know it all while trying to sounds modest fell flat for many.
While it worked early on, we think they missed a great angle where he could’ve embraced the wealthy executive part of him and rebranded himself like a modern day Ric Flair.
It would’ve worked so much better and they could’ve formed a new Four Horsemen stable with him in the lead like many fans expected. Instead, he continued along that face route and it’s something the WWE is repeated.
An interesting way to look at this came from Vince Russo when on his podcast he talked about the problems with Cody’s character and how the WWE is mishandling him.
Know your roots
Cody’s in the WWE to win the WWE Championship. He said that from day one and he wants to do it to honor Dusty Rhodes, who never won the title.
The problem here is, and Russo pointed out, Cody’s character doesn’t seem to know who his father was. Dusty was a man of the people, the son of a plumber.
And while Cody can use Dusty’s name and memory to put himself over, it comes off flat as Cody comes out in immaculate suits and projects an air of thinking he’s smarter than anyone else.
It feels forced more times than not, and that’s what gets us.
To us, if feels like Cody’s trying to get in touch with his roots by honoring his father, but he constantly goes on about his family and Dusty’s legacy.
Maybe instead of a wealthy son of the American Dream, playing a character that more down to earth and not so immaculate would work better. Or he could go full heel and rage on about trying to prove he’s better than Dusty by winning the title.
It’d be a heel turn that would really suit him as he always looks angry and ready to snap during his promos.
Needs better booking
This character could work, but Cody needs better booking than he’s getting.
As we mentioned above, Cody’s there for the WWE Championship, so the first night he came out he should’ve gotten into Roman Reigns’ face to make his presence known.
Reigns would then throw his cousins at him to try to prevent Cody from facing him and it could run to SummerSlam for their big showdown if it’s done right.
Instead, Cody’s ignoring the championship and is feuding with Seth Rollins to prove he belongs there.
So, is Cody trying to prove he’s better than Rollins and that he belongs there, or is he after the title?
While removing himself from the title picture in AEW was a smart move to avoid booking himself as champion like Dusty often did, it also fizzled out Cody as a threat for the title.
He never tried to work around that or have a champion offer him a match despite that stipulation.
And now that he’s not going after the WWE title but feuding with Rollins and the Miz and Kevin Owens, he’s going to fizzle out and most won’t care.
The WWE is halfway through the 6 week honeymoon period most gave before Vince McMahon grows tired of his shiny new addition, and it’s not looking good for Cody. Maybe something will change, and maybe it won’t.
The fact Cody teased bringing back the winged eagle design of the WWE Championship if he wins came across more like they’re trying to keep that storyline alive instead of actually doing it.
The winged eagle design is the most popular title design in WWE history, but will we see it or Cody as a champion or will the WWE continue to mirror AEW? Let us know in the comments below.
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