Bully Ray believes WWE made Cody Rhodes look foolish with the finish to his match against Randy Orton at Sunday Night’s Main Event — and says some fans are beginning to lose their connection with “The American Nightmare.”
Orton defeated Rhodes in Atlanta after Rhodes had an opportunity to punt his former mentor but stopped when Orton begged him not to do it. Moments later, Orton caught Rhodes with a low blow behind the referee’s back before hitting an RKO for the victory.
Speaking on Busted Open, Bully Ray argued that seemingly small changes in fan reactions can eventually become significant and believes Rhodes only has himself to blame if supporters begin turning away from his character.
“You know how I always talk about the rule of one. It always starts someplace. The pop dies with one. One less person shows up to the arena. It always starts with one less something,” he said. “I heard it from the caller yesterday, and I’m hearing it a little bit in your voice today. Cody has nobody to blame but himself.”
Bully said that if he had been producing the match, he would have rejected the planned finish because it made WWE’s top babyface look foolish after falling into Orton’s trap.
“If I was the producer of that match, if I was sitting in the room with Cody and Randy, and they get to, okay, Bubba, now Randy’s going to be down, Cody’s going to back up, he’s going to go to punt him in the head, but then Randy is going to become a bit of a chicken s** heel, and he’s going to beg and bleed, and Cody’s not going to do it. But then after Cody doesn’t do it, he’s just going to walk to Randy and get nut shot,” Bully Ray said. “And I’d be like, no, absolutely not. Because my babyface looks like a fool, and this exact scenario has happened in the past, so now you’re giving me a reason to not believe in you, because you have fallen for it one too many times.”*
He compared the situation to the famous recurring gag involving Charlie Brown and Lucy.
“He becomes Charlie Brown with Lucy pulling the football away,” he said.
Bully’s criticism extends beyond the finish itself. He believes Rhodes’ current presentation as a respectful, clean-cut babyface has remained on the same note for too long and could be beginning to wear thin with portions of the audience.
“There’s just entirely too much respect for Randy Orton right now, and people are starting to wane,” Bully Ray said. “I’m going to go back to when I first started talking about the suit. You may not agree with me, and that’s fine. But I’m telling you, things like that eventually start to come into play. The white meat babyface that Cody is portraying is starting to get a little bit old with people.”
Bully has repeatedly criticized Rhodes’ besuited presentation in recent months, arguing that it has moved him away from some of the qualities that initially connected him with fans.
He also tied his criticism to what happened at ringside in Atlanta. During the match, Orton mocked Brandi Rhodes before she responded by throwing a drink in his face.
“You want to wear that suit, you want to use four-syllable words, go right ahead. But when you have the opportunity to kick Randy Orton in the head and make things right after he talked about your mother and your wife, and your wife had the balls to throw a beer in his face, but you didn’t have the balls to kick him in it, there’s something wrong,” Bully Ray said.
For Bully, the biggest concern is reaching the point where fans can no longer identify with Rhodes’ actions.
“I can’t identify with this guy anymore. As a wrestler, that’s one of the worst things I could hear a fan say,” he said. “You’re telling me that you’re no longer into what I do because of another bad decision I made in a ring. I’m losing your fandom.”
However, Bully did not completely dismiss the possibility that WWE has a larger plan behind the finish. He said he is willing to be proven wrong if Rhodes sparing Orton ultimately becomes an important turning point in the storyline.
For now, though, Bully admitted he does not understand why Rhodes refused to follow through with the punt and believes WWE will need to provide an explanation that makes the controversial decision worthwhile.
