After Cody Rhodes turned down the opportunity to headbutt his friend-turned-enemy Randy Orton. In Sunday night’s main eventMany wrestling fans and pundits expected “American Nightmare” to fix it by turning up the heat, or in the words of WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray: “go off the deep end”. Instead, Rhodes was cool as a cucumber last Friday on “WWE SmackDown,” indicating that he will remain “uncompromising” moving forward.
In Rey’s eyes, Rhodes’ well-being after a bloody fight with Orton could have done more harm than good to his on-screen persona.
“From what we just heard, everything about it to me was polished and soulless,” Ray continued. “Lost Open Radio” referring to Rhodes’ four-minute interview with Michael Cole from SmackDown. “There was nothing to believe in it. I wasn’t buying into it. I wasn’t feeling it. Nothing made me go. “Yes, good.” I go into this with the full benefit of the doubt, but when I see the perfect lighting, when I see the perfect cufflinks, when I see the perfect tie fold, when I see the perfect tie chain, and when I see the fist rise above his ankle, the socks and the shoes. Please give me something that spoils your look a little.’
In contrast to Cody’s polished appearance, Ray recalled his late father, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, portraying him as a “pathetic mess” when presented with similar wrestling storylines. In his case, Dusty often made circles under his eyes and could barely string words together because the enemy in the ring, whoever it was, made him so angry. In Cody’s case, Ray would like to see something like that.
Rey wanted to see Cody Rhodes show more passion
“If Cody was upset, if he’d really come out for a minute and take it out on Michael,” Ray suggested. “What the hell, Michael? What’s going on here? I’ve done this and I’ve done this.” If he loosened his tie a little like. “Come on, Michael, give me some answers. What am I doing wrong? What do I not see? If he got up, then maybe he would sit down again and say: If only there were more passion, more vinegar, a little more salt, more life than sitting there cool, calm and collected.”
Ray further stated that he did not expect or want to see Rhodes completely change his appearance; he was actually fine with Rhodes wearing his traditional suit of jeans and a t-shirt. However, he would have liked to see a flash of raw emotion from the former WWE Undisputed Champion.
“I wanted to see him be a person who questions what the hell is going on,” Ray said.
In the final moments of the SmackDown broadcast, viewers saw Rhodes quietly promise that when he faces The Viper again, he’ll make a decision that’s different from Sunday Night’s Main Event. Once the cameras stopped rollingRhodes then whispered to Cole that he was going to specifically “kick his head in.”
Rhodes’ lack of hitting at SNME allowed Orton to land a low blow and RKO to defeat his former Legacy mentee. On The follow-up episode of SmackDown, Orton then said that Rhodes’ actions proved that he was a good person, not a “murderer”.
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit ““Destroyed Open Radio” with ah/t to Wrestling Inc. for transcription.
