The many sins of Cody Rhodes

[LaGoosh]

Decided to put a thread together where we can bitch and complain about whatever stupid thing Cody has done this week rather than inevitably clogging up the Dynamite thread.

Personally, I find Cody Rhodes to be a pretty interesting wrestler. On paper and at one point in practice he was the perfect babyface with a great story. Son of a wrestling legend walks away from the big evil WWE who are forcing him to dress up like a cartoon character to start his own promotion for the fans and to bring back "real wrestling". There was a few months where Cody Rhodes was an absolutely excellent white meat pure babyface the likes of which the business hadn't seen for years. But it all gradually fell apart and every week it seems to get worse and more confusing. I would easily put Cody at the top of my worst wrestler of 2021 list. The fall from grace is really unique and kind of fascinating. I've tried to come up with every terrible decision he's made that gradually eroded fan support to the point now where everyone is either bored of him or hates him.

- Firstly and perhaps most importantly: that fucking tattoo. The MJF match was a hot feud with great angles (the 10 lashes is an all time great angle) but regardless of how good the build was when he came out for the match with that ridiculous thing on his neck you could feel the air suck out the room. I think a huge portion of the fanbase lost a lot of respect for him as soon as they saw it. I know I did. It's hard to cheer for someone who would do something so stupid.

- "Cody Rhodes has a special announcement". Every couple of weeks you'd get this on Dynamite. And every time not much really happened. Cody merely going out to do a promo was advertised as if it was important. Gradually over time fans pick up on that stuff and it's annoying. 

- Cody is not a very good singles wrestler. He seems to think he is though. On a show with one of the best and most exciting and dynamic rosters of all time, you need to be really good. Especially if you're positioned as a top star like Cody often is. Cody rarely has a match above average and only does with the right opponent (namely someone who is much, much better than him). He does a lot of stuff in his matches that don't really make sense for someone of his style or size and his matches rarely have any story or psychology to them. He had a terrible match with Anthony Ogogo which had probably the most obvious story possible to work (dangerous boxer vs wrestler - wrestler dodges and outwrestles the boxer to stay away from the punches, eventually a punch lands so the wrestler sells loads before eventually getting using his superior wrestling skills to get the win) but instead they worked a generic and dull normal match. 

- That time he dyed his hair black to show everyone how serious he was but looked like Eddie Munster. Cody does not do subtlety. 

- Brandi Rhodes. I'm sure she's a lovely person in real life, but she's a horrendously unlikeable onscreen character and any association/appearances she makes with Cody Rhodes the character makes him more smug and unlikeable by association. Remember when she randomly went all "ima' whoop yo' ass ya trick bitch" on Jade Cargill? Embarrassing scenes.

- Hey, it's lovely that Cody and Brandi had a baby but did they really need to announce it on television? And did they really need to do it with the most sickeningly smug video of all time? It's not a huge thing on it's own but all of these things add up.

- That entrance. Firstly his song is pretty bad but not offensively bad by wrestling theme standards...then he started adding extra layers to it...and more pyro...he has the biggest entrance of anyone on the roster by far. Even the Champion!

- AEW typically doesn't do rematches...except for Cody though. Dude always gets his win back.

- Cody is booked like he's a special attraction. He's not. He hasn't earned that spot. The fans don't see him as a special attraction.

- Cody Rhodes is a lazy storyteller. You can tell he's a product of the WWE system because Cody's stories are always based around "moments" rather than build or logic. It feels like he has an idea he gets excited about and he just rushes towards it so he can do it as soon as possible. It always makes his stories feel completely disjointed. Like the 3 week long story of Arn Anderson calling him weak, setting a fire in his garden and him getting slapped about in a training school before coming back like nothing had ever happened. Or having a hardcore match with firespots to blow off a feud that's ONLY ONE WEEK OLD.

- Set himself on fire on live TV doing a fucking idiotic spot for no reason whatsoever. Cody also blades constantly in matches because he's not talented enough to build drama in any other way.

- The CodyVerse, completely separated himself from the rest of the roster and spent almost a year only feuding with his training school people who no one cared about. All the while the rest of the roster rapidly outgrew him in talent and star power. Now feels like he's from a completely different show.

- No one comes out of a feud with Cody better off than they were on the way in. He's a star power blackhole, sucks you in and shits you out.

- Seems to think he's doing some kind of tweener John Cena type act. Except people actually liked John Cena, he was a star and paid to see him. 

I know the talk is how great a Cody heel turn would be...I'm not convinced. He doesn't seem to want to do it and I don't think he has the talent to actually pull it off to a top level. 

So...anyone here like him?

Edited December 2, 2021 by LaGoosh

[Devon Malcolm]

I liked him when he used to put bags on people's heads.

[Merzbow]

That one promo where he claimed to solve racism was where he really started to lose support, I watched Twitter turn on him in real time.

[Supremo]

It’s a shame considering what a good, charitable egg he seems in real life, and I’ve probably had more patience with his on-screen character than most, but yeah. It’s becoming harder and harder to defend the berk.

It’s mad to think how perfect that Cody vs. Jericho Title match felt at the time. A huge match, built up brilliantly, featuring what felt like AEW’s two biggest stars. Fast-forward a few years and the company has totally outgrown both of them. In no time at all both feel like echoes of a completely different time and place, redundant in the current landscape.

Leave the memories alone though. America would still have racism if he hadn’t impregnated Brandi.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Supremo

[Louch]

There are loads of things Cody can be good at, but he tries to have matches that doesn’t suit his style, and matches for feuds that in his head matter far more thank has been portrayed. He really needs a mentor that isn’t a stumbling Arn, someone closer generationally who gives him feedback he takes on. 
 

2 years he’s back in wwe for me. He has unfinished business and will see more chance at the top than in aew

[69MeDon]

7 minutes ago, Louch said:

2 years he’s back in wwe for me. He has unfinished business and will see more chance at the top than in aew

After all his shots at Triple H, and the whole deal with his surname, that'd be funny.

[Hannibal Scorch]

If he’s not got a tash, it’s not good.

the only great thing in TNA was the blood feud match with Dustin. It’s been downhill ever since.

[Nick James]

Cody Rhodes for me is in the same discussion category as WWE in that whether you like him or not, any posts about him / them are always going to resort to an argument about whether he / they are shit or not.

Cody is the most WWE thing about AEW. The pagentry, the pig headedness and the inevitable 'that was the plan all along' when people shit all over something.

[DavidB6937]

All credit to the guy for convincing so many people post-WWE that he deserved much better than he ever got under Vince. He got chance after chance to get over in various gimmicks and arguably there was only one where they didn't pull the trigger when they could have. Other than that he actually did alright at the level he deserved.

Somewhere along the way he's lost the ability to sell himself properly and keep the audience behind him. That was his main selling point for years but in AEW he has absolutely lost it now.

He's not shit. He's a very capable guy. Not the one I'd personally build the company around but definitely has enough about him that he's a solid mid to upper mid card talent and there's nothing wrong with that position at all. But he's allowing himself to be exposed and his flaws are becoming more and more evident. He's lost as to what he wants to be and where he fits in in AEW in 2021.

So yeah - a guy who is ultimately frustrating because he CAN be good. He CAN get a crowd behind him. He CAN be a very easy to hate heel. But he's doing the worst thing at the moment and leaving people not caring and not being invested. That's the worst thing for a guy who has got to where he is by being so convincing and making the fans want to follow him and see him succeed. No one gives a shit now.

[BomberPat]

1 hour ago, LaGoosh said:

Cody does not do subtlety. 

And that's it, really.

[Sonny Mustang]

I just don’t enjoy him. I find him bland as a wrestler and his entrance infuriates me (especially when he makes his wife, dog and entourage come out of the regular peasant tunnel). 

Placing the america v Ogogo match right after the Memorial Day Merica video package at D or N seemed desperate. 

That said, he’s seems a great chap outside the ring, so no hate, but I can boo him if I want to!!

[CL Punk]

I liked that he bought back The Classic IC Title, I even liked The Dashing Cody Rhodes, I liked The Rhodes Scholars and I liked The Deformed Cody Rhodes gimmick where he was like a Doctor Doom-lite character but I don't care for his AEW work from the not so subtle digs at Triple H and his not wanting to be the heel, when are fans booing the shit out of him.

[Carbomb]

29 minutes ago, Sonny Mustang said:

but I can boo him if I want to!!

You can leave his friends behind

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

And that's it, really.

I remember him doing a promo a few weeks back after his ppv match vs Black where he practically said "oh I could turn heel and win the aew championship... But I won't cos I love you all" was the worst.

[DavidB6937]

Today I learnt that his sister is really fucking annoying too.