When discussing the success of his current run in WWE, Cody Rhodes routinely points to his long-time friend and mentor John Cena, who he turns to when he needs help or advice, going so far as to suggest that his current run is actually doing numbers that “The Face That Runs the Place” could only dream of.

Is that hyperbole? Or is Rhodes really finding the sort of babyface success fans haven't seen since the Attitude Era? Well, Dave Meltzer decided to break that down on Wrestling Observer Radio and let fans know that, yes, Rhodes really is on a financial and popularity roll the likes of which WWE fans haven't seen since his father was putting on polka dot tights and calling himself the “American Dream.”

“As far as a babyface draw, people got so mad when I brought up that Cody (Rhodes)’s numbers are higher than Cena’s numbers were. But they are, they’re much higher,” Dave Meltzer explained via WrestlingPurists. “Does he have the longevity of Cena? Of course not, but there was never a year of John Cena that did business like 2023 or 2024 will do. Never, not even close as far as these kind of gates and everything. Not just gates but even attendances, advance ticket sales and merchandise sales and everything like that. Does he have a better support staff? Yeah, he does, but still, he is the babyface star of this company, and he’s the most successful as far as when you look at the gates, when you look at the attendance figures on a consistent basis, a year-round basis, it's the most since 2001 or 2002. A long long time ago, that’s Austin/Rock era.”

Will Rhodes be able to keep this hype up, or will WWE eventually crash back to earth, with their streak of sold-out shows and record gates fading away with it? Only time will tell, but right now, Rhodes is about as popular as they come in the WWE Universe and beyond, and considering how the industry is currently in the middle of a new era of borderline unprecedented prosperity in America, from The Fed to AEW, TNA, and beyond, it's safe to say the “American Nightmare” won't complain about being the face of this wrestling renaissance, even if he is a slightly controversial figure for his attitude, politicking, and character seemingly built to become a heel even if he only acts like a hero.

Cody Rhodes compares his WWE run to Parks and Recreation.

Speaking of Cody Rhodes' run as the unquestioned top babyface of the WWE Universe, the “American Nightmare” discussed how he handles fans' expectations while being pulled in so many different directions between pleasing his “Little Nightmares” to intellectually stimulating the “smarter” fans online. Comparing his plight to that of Leslie Knope of Parks and Recreation, Rhodes noted that sometimes, you just have to go to bat for the fans who support you instead of trying to appease the critics who may never come around.

“You ever watched Parks and Rec? There’s a really great episode where Leslie is running for city council, and there’s a guy who hates her for no reason. He just has a thing against her. She throws this bowling night and, even though she’s not supposed to, she spends time trying to win him over. The message is that it’s never going to happen,” Cody Rhodes explained via WrestleZone.

“That’s how I feel these days. I’d rather rock and party with the people who are part of all this and the fans. It’s nice to prove fans right and also nice to prove critics wrong, but it’s not my main focus anymore. For a long time, I had a chip on my shoulder, wanting to turn critics around. You can do that to some degree, but when you do, you might discard the ones who are right there, saying, ‘Hey, we got your back.’ Why focus so much on the critics?”

When it comes to Rhodes, there will always be a percentage of the fanbase who wants to see him turn heel, which is about the same number, one would have to assume, who wants to see him become the next Cena or Hogan. Because of this reality, maybe it's simply better to ride this current wave while he's on the way up and give the people who are already fans a show instead of trying to throw the baby out with the bathwater in the pursuit of something better. Considering he's already the top babyface in wrestling, period, it's clear something has worked out; why not lean into that?