I don’t know why I expected more from Cody Rhodes’ sit-down interview with Michael Cole tonight. Maybe it’s because Bully Ray convinced me what exactly this needed to be for Rhodes to get back on the rails and get fans behind him again. Maybe it’s because I half-expected Orton to appear out of nowhere and there to be a big, exciting backstage brawl or something. Whatever I expected, though, this wasn’t it, and it fell really, really flat.
Cole started off with more of a thought than a question, saying that it’s becoming a pattern that Rhodes can’t “pull the trigger” on someone he cares about. Rhodes said he wasn’t going to give any excuses, and he’s proud of being “QB1,” and despite not having the same team behind him as he did at WrestleMania 40, WWE is a big place with plenty of other teammates.
Rhodes did a lot of admitting things in this promo that really didn’t do anything for me, like saying he should have realized everyone was going to stab him in the back, since it comes with the territory of being champion. The main part of this was Rhodes saying it’s ridiculous everyone is discussing his morality, and he doesn’t need to go down a “darker path,” because he’s gotten this far by being the same guy he’s been since his return at WrestleMania 38. This felt like WWE just throwing it in fans’ faces that Rhodes isn’t turning heel, no matter what they say all over social media.
He did say, however, he’ll do what he needs to do against Orton and not make the same mistake he made by not punting Orton in the head at Sunday Night’s Main Event. It was a lot of talking, which Rhodes is certainly good at, but I didn’t believe him. We’ve all seen Rhodes much more fired up than this, so it didn’t land the way it should have.
Then, WWE went one step further (to annoy me, personally) by releasing a social media clip after “SmackDown,” where Rhodes told Cole after the cameras cut that he was “going to kick Orton’s f****** head off.” Cole referenced the moment on commentary, so I figured this was coming, but I’m so sick of WWE furthering stories on X instead of TV.
Nothing about this did anything for me tonight, from the apparent confirmation Rhodes isn’t turning heel anytime soon, to the sneaky footage posted after the fact, where he still wasn’t fired up, or menacing, or anything, really. I’m assuming they’re going to have another match at Money in the Bank, so there are a few more weeks of build, and hopefully, they’re much hotter than this.
Written by Daisy Ruth
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