Though some fans still desperately want to see him turn heel, with Bully Ray suggesting he's an Emperor Palpatine away from becoming the next Darth Vader, Cody Rhodes remains firmly committed to being the sort of true, red, white, and blue babyface who can headline both nights of WrestleMania 40 and maybe, just maybe, bring home the big one for all of his “Little Nightmares” around the world.
One person who is all the way aboard the Rhodes hype train is Shawn Michaels, himself a former WWE babyface who knows a thing or two about winning championship in the WWE Universe.
Discussing the “American Nightmare's” journey since returning to the WWE Universe in 2022 in an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Michaels celebrated Rhodes for putting in the work and doing so the right way, as being a traditional babyface is hard work in 2024.
“I do have to say, what Cody has done over the last year or two years, it’s been pretty amazing because it’s done in what I think a lot of us traditional babyfaces would say is really hard and difficult to pull off in this era, and he’s done a fantastic job of that,” Shawn Michaels told Busted Open Radio via 411 Mania.
Turning his attention to WrestleMania 40, HBK evaluated the main event matchup between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, noting that it's a tough match to call because it could go either way.
“WrestleMania 40 is going to be the biggest WrestleMania of all time. I have no doubt. It’s going to be a huge moment if Cody can [win the title]. But look, we’ve seen before that the story doesn’t get told as they say,” Michaels noted. “So, if it happens, it’ll be an absolutely glorious moment for him and a huge recognition of what he’s accomplished. But if Roman says it isn’t happening, and he goes out there and makes that so, it’s a big hill to climb. Let’s just put it that way.”
You have to give it to Michaels; his assertions are pretty much dead-on, as Rhodes' big moment, as amazing as it would be, is pretty darn dependent on Reigns and his willingness to step back from the spotlight and let someone else have their moment. If he relents, Rhodes may get his big moment like HBK before him, but if The Bloodline has one final bout of death throes before the storyline comes to an end, then who knows, maybe fans could be in for another year or even longer with Reigns on top as he prepares for a match against The Rock at a future PLE.
Eric Bischoff wasn't a fan of The Rock making Cody Rhodes bleed.
Speaking of WWE Hall of Famers and their feeling about Cody Rhodes ahead of WrestleMania 40, Eric Bischoff, who is normally a pretty big fan of the “American Nightmare” spoke out about his most recent segment with The Rock on RAW, which featured, in his opinion, a ton of swearing, violence, and unnecessary blood.
“I didn’t like it. And I just – I have a thing that I can’t get over. And look, it wasn’t excessive. It wasn’t [like] they zoomed in with a camera, and licked the blood off his face, the kind of grotesque s**t I’ve seen. So it was judicious enough that I wasn’t completely turned off by it. I get it, I know why they did it. It’s just — and I am absolutely in the minority on this, I don’t know why I feel as strongly about it. Because most things, I’m pretty flexible in many ways when it comes to creativity, But something about it –I don’t know,” Eric Bischoff said on 83 Weeks via 411 Mania.
“I would have — you know, maybe if it had been a little less blood. I said it wasn’t that shot that Dave just put up. I guess I didn’t notice it as much. But maybe if we had been just a little bit more, and we weren’t showcasing it quite as much as we were, trying to make that point. If it looked a little bit more organic. And I’m not saying cut away from it, pretend it didn’t happen, shoot wide shots. But if you’re watching along on 83Weeks.com, you’re seeing what I’m seeing, and that’s — the camera’s right there. I mean, 25% of that frame is Cody bleeding. I think that was just a little bit more than necessary. But I get it.”
Discussing the segment further, Bischoff noted that, for him, he doesn't want to see WWE take things in such a decidedly TV 14 direction, as seeing a babyface bleed doesn't make him feel empathy anymore due to overuse across the wrestling world.
“That’s part of it [it turning advertisers away], that’s the business side of me. Because in my experience it does, or it can. That’s part of it. But part of it is, I guess because I’ve seen so much of it. And it’s been so overdone that when I see it, it doesn’t make me feel empathy. In this case for Cody, doesn’t make me feel sympathetic towards him. It just makes me feel like, ‘Oh, they’re trying really hard here.’ That’s why I say, it’s just me,” Bischoff noted.
“The good news is we didn’t see it on the rest of the show. It wasn’t like five other guys got juice, which is typically what we see in some promotions. Like every other match, somebody’s getting split open till it gets to the point where it doesn’t mean anything. In this case, you can see it anywhere else, we haven’t seen blood in WWE for a long time. So I guess it mattered. The part of me that liked it was it was a throwback to old school. It’s like the way it used to be done. That part of me likes that, a traditional way of getting heat. The fact that there was blood all over the weight belt that Cody’s Mama or Mama Cody, whatever it was, Mama Rhodes. Yeah, that was a nice touch to bring Cody’s mom into this. I’d like to see her face when this is going on.”
Fortunately for WWE, Bischoff is truly in the minority in this situation, as the rest of wrestling seems to love the direction Creative is taking Rhodes and The Rock ahead of WrestleMania 40. Still, with everything going on, focusing more on the actual Mama Rhodes could be a nice touch, maybe getting her on-camera for an interview before, you know, her son bleeds all over the ring on both nights of the “Showcase of the Immortals.”