Has the WWE devalued Cody Rhodes?
There’s no doubt that when Cody Rhodes ambitiously left the WWE in 2016, he proved the global, publicly-traded corporation wrong, as the office only saw him as a second-tier comedy character as a spin-off version of his brother’s much more successful persona. Cody reinvented himself as the American Nightmare outside of the WWE so that he could return to eventually be the top guy in the company. That’s one of the many reasons that competition is so important within the industry because without the platform of AEW for Cody to completely rejuvenate his career, he wouldn’t have been able to become the top star that he is today in the WWE. He was one of the core forces behind All Elite Wrestling, the group that had the chance to be a true competitor to the WWE before a series of key fumbles had it settle into the position as a secondary alternative.
Cody’s two-year journey to the championship saw a spike in attendance, as the storyline didn’t lead to a boom of the wrestling business, which has exponentially more moving parts across the entire industry, but it served the WWE fan base very well. That’s why, for a period of time, the audience was willing to pay the outlandish ticket prices that they aren’t nearly as willing to pay for this year’s Wrestlemania. Some of that is the natural process of the peaks and valleys of the business. It’s simply not possible to have a major increase without an eventual decline to some degree. The fans of the WWE already saw the peak of the current era.
Cody Rhodes checks all the boxes to be the top star for a corporate pro wrestling company. He is a tremendous performer, he represents the company well, he can do the media appearances, and most importantly, he’s not going to make headlines for the wrong reasons, which is extremely difficult in the modern age of smart phones and TMZ.
As a performer and a representative, Cody is on pace to take the John Cena spot for the organization, a position that another performer wasn’t going to be able to take until Cena retired. Still, ahead of Wrestlemania 42, I have to be honest, the writing team has devalued Cody Rhodes.
This has nothing to do with his skills and everything to do with the scripting of his path to the biggest event of the year, and at this point, it’s not possible to change that, as the fundamental flaws of how to book a baby face champion already took place. If the storyline can generate some much needed momentum based on the angle on this week’s Smackdown remains to be seen.
When Drew McIntyre cost Cody the Royal Rumble victory, it planted the seeds for the eventual Wrestlemania showdown, and it gave fans a reason to tune into The Elimination Chamber, as it was a logical next step in the angle. That matters when the ESPN subscription is $30 a month so the extra hurdle makes sense, particularly because a baby face needs odds to overcome as far as building drama for the spectacle of WM. The issue is that Drew interfered in the chamber match as well, something that was one step too far in the process to be obstacles in the baby face’s way to the marquee event. The problem is, both the Royal Rumble and the Elimination Chamber are no DQ so technically the heel didn’t break the rules. You can get away with one of them, as it gave the Elimination Chamber a purpose, but interference in a no DQ gimmick match doesn’t have nearly the same amount of heat. Seth Rollins got involved in that match, too.
So, Cody lost at the Rumble, lost at The Elimination Chamber, and then he was gifted a title shot on a random episode of Smackdown anyway. How exactly did Rhodes earn this title shot? Again, Drew didn’t break the rules in either of the previous situations. Obviously, we know that the office was scrambling to shuffle the deck in response to the sluggish WM 42 ticket sales, but from purely a storyline perspective, Cody’s title win wasn’t exactly earned since he lost for the two opportunities in a relatively short period of time. He lost both of the key opportunities to be in the main event of Wrestlemania, but somehow he’s still going to end up in that spot.
Keep in mind, this has nothing to do with Cody’s talent, he should be in the main event, but the path that was scripted to get in there lacked logic and thus diminished his position as the baby face champion.
That’s why the heel turn from Randy Orton, and more importantly, how it was done, was very important to the build to Wrestlemania. As much as the modern era burns the candle at both ends more often than not, and the risk compared to the reward ratio is usually unbalanced, the use of blood in the current WWE product is very well done. It’s not overused so that when it happens, it has an impact and it stands out. Sure, this has become a common troupe to use for Cody Rhodes before Wrestlemania the past few years, but if it works, it works. Orton being the vicious and calculated heel that left Rhodes in a pool of his own blood gives Cody the previously mentioned odds to overcome for the journey to Wrestlemania. If this is enough to portray him as the valiant good guy by the time the bell rings in Las Vegas depends on the next four weeks of television and how the office builds off of the very effective heel turn.
That being said, I’m not sure if the specific match-up will be the fix that management hopes for, as far as moving more tickets for the show.
As I’ve written prior, the main selling point is the brand and the spectacle of Wrestlemania. The more than four decades of historical value and cache that is behind it usually sells tickets before a card is announced. Without a retread of all the previous details, the final year of John Cena’s career gave the office an extra year of a unique selling point, but now, especially after the peak of the Cody win a few years ago, there’s simply not enough meat on the bone for the typical WWE fan to pay the ludicrous prices when the lowest ticket in the building will be $350 each night. The Drew/Cody match wasn’t realistically strong enough to main event WM because they’ve had four championship matches in roughly six or seven months. As far as that rivalry, it’s been there, done that. If Drew was penciled in to lose too often is a different matter, the point is, it’s not a fresh bout. Remember, there were reports that the initial plan for WM 42 was another Cody/Roman Reigns match, a contest that was hinted at during the War Games match at Survivor Series last year. That would’ve been three Rhodes/Reigns main events with the span of four years. That’s Stone Cold/The Rock territory, and the modern main event today simply doesn’t have that type of drawing power, which says more about the industry itself than any individual performer. The office pivoted with CM Punk and Reigns on Raw, a feud that may or may not have enough sizzle to it by the time we get to Allegiant Stadium. Roman had a historic four-year title run, but obviously that type of tenure is different in the era of countless hours of programming every week compared to when Hulk Hogan had the title in the 80s. So, it’s understandable why it’s at least possible that there might be some “Roman fatigue” as far as the main event of WM in 2026.
I bring that up because the shuffled pairing reveal that the WWE, specifically when there was theoretically a level of concern about ticket sales went back to the comfortable corporate option. Roman Reigns was the project that flopped before he became the champion that flourished. He has been a priority for the company for more than 12 years so it’s easy to see why management went with a very prototypical WWE main eventer to try to boost sales. The same can be said for Randy Orton, he’s a textbook WWE guy. He has the look and works the low-risk, main event style that they traditionally look for. Vince might be exiled in disgrace, but his lasting impact on how he marketed the WWE brand can be seen here.
In short, Roman and Randy are safe choices, at least for the office. Don’t get me wrong, Orton is a tremendous performer, but for a guy as talented as he is, there aren’t many memorable matches from his career. With this heel turn, some might want to reminisce about 2009 Orton, but if you go back and actually watch those contests, they are often very tedious and sometimes boring. That’s not to say that Orton can’t have great matches, but it’s very clear when he doesn’t put it into second gear in the ring. Orton worked more for the sizzle than the substance, which in theory is fine, but as an example, his bout with Triple H at WM 25 was known for the wrong reasons. Ironically, he worked a forgettable triple threat contest against Cody and Ted DiBiase Jr. in the second match on the card the following year.
The reason I mention this is that if Randy/Cody is a dud, it doesn’t do anything to help continue Cody’s momentum as the top guy, especially after the way he was booked so far this year. It’s somewhat of an odd dynamic since the baby face is already the champion,but maybe this is designed to put the title on Orton for another run? I’m looking forward to how the storyline unfolds because with two performers of this caliber, there’s the potential for some great stuff, but at the same time, booking Orton into the main event spot doesn’t guarantee it will be a successful storyline.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
