On Raw Monday night, WWE fans saw Cody Rhodes once again faced with another obstacle on his way to not only Night of Champions but destiny. If facing Brock Lesnar for a second time wasn't a big enough obstacle, WWE felt the American Nightmare now has to face Lesnar with an “injured” arm at Night of Champions.
The angle
During Raw, Brock Lesnar stated that Rhodes would not be his opponent for the Night of Champions PLE after attacking Rhodes backstage earlier in the evening. Instead, Lesnar issued an open challenge, leaving fans intrigued about who would step up to face The Beast Incarnate.
In what was probably not a surprise to anyone, Rhodes made his way to the ring with his left arm in a sling. Despite selling the injury, Rhodes marched into the ring to confront Lesnar. He quickly fell victim to Lesnar's Kimura Lock, where it looked as if Lesnar further injured Rhodes' arm, leaving him in yet another precarious situation.
Later that night, Triple H paid a visit to Rhodes in his locker room, attempting to reason with him and persuade him to reconsider his decision to fight at Night of Champions. However, Rhodes stood his ground, refusing to back down and vowing to compete, regardless of the consequences.
WWE booking
This is, of course, all in storyline form as Cody Rhodes doesn't have an actual injured arm. However, this new wrinkle in his current feud with Lesnar reinforces the notion that WWE creative is continuing its current trend of booking him strong.
It's a trend for a reason—because it's WWE booking 101. Though the days of this type of booking seemed passé with Triple H taking over as CCO, it doesn't seem to be the case.
With the new arm injury angle, it seems that WWE is weekly placing Rhodes in challenging situations, to the point of it being forceful. This is a very old-school type of booking, one where the objective is to continually place the babyface in difficult circumstances that he must willfully, and most assuredly, overcome. In other words, it's a strong push.
But does this type of push work in 2023 where fans are far more engaged and knowledgeable about the inner workings of the business?
The Matrix world of wrestling
If we take a glimpse from a storied lens, this is often a strategy with strong potential to backfire on WWE, just as it has with previous stars like Roman Reigns and John Cena in the past. Granted, it's hard to say those two individuals haven't gone on to achieve great success, but at the time when they were being forcefully booked, fans simply weren't buying into them. In fact, they revolted.
This is the risk they're running with Rhodes.
The Matrix world of wrestling storytelling can only take you to the brink of inconceivability before you awaken and realize how foolish and manipulated you've become. As fans, we’re manipulated to suspend our disbelief—not to question the reality of the stories being told but to wonder in awe of them.
The whole concept makes little to no sense, but when it goes too far, when it begins to snap us out of the Matrix—and there’s a fine line here—that’s when we show contempt.
Adding a scripted injury to Rhodes' current push adds insult to his previous real injury when he tore his pectoral muscle last year. With visual evidence and a year-long absence to prove Rhodes was injured heading into the Hell in a Cell match with Seth Rollins last year, now having a scripted arm injury is inept storytelling. The whole angle seems contrived.
A scripted arm injury is nothing out of the ordinary for a wrestling angle. For wrestling fans watching this Rhodes/Lesnar storyline play out, though, it's like a sudden appearance of a black cat, déjà vu.
Keeping in theme with The Matrix, a black cat is used as a visual cue to indicate a glitch in the Matrix. The repeated occurrence of the black cat crossing the same path twice is shown to represent a moment of déjà vu, which suggests a disturbance or alteration in the Matrix's programming. This serves as a signal to the characters that something is not as it should be and that their reality is being manipulated.
It feels the longer WWE plays out this Cody Rhodes must face adversity angle, the quicker fans will eventually revolt against him due to its contrived nature. The whole Lesnar storyline has raised suspicions from the beginning. It has never had any real sense of clarity outside of making Rhodes look as strong as possible. How long before fans wake up and realize there's a glitch in the programming?
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