"There are things that are fundamentally wrong with the character" - Former WWE personality on Cody Rhodes (Exclusive)
Wrestling veteran Vince Russo recently spoke about how Cody Rhodes's on-screen character in WWE wasn't true to the family lineage.
For those unaware, The American Nightmare is the son of Dusty Rhodes, one of the most influential and authentic babyfaces in wrestling history. Like his father, Cody has also tasted massive success as a fan favorite, often receiving some of the loudest crowd reactions in whichever arena he enters.
On the latest episode of Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws, Vince Russo opened up about a potentially major flaw with Cody Rhodes' character. The former WWE writer explained that Cody wasn't true to his family's working-class roots, as Dusty Rhodes was billed as the 'son of a plumber' during his wrestling days.
Russo mentioned that unlike his father, who was relatable to the masses, The American Nightmare's dressing sense was much more sophisticated.
"I think there are things that are fundamentally wrong with the character of Cody Rhodes. Because you gotta understand, you had Dusty, who was Dusty, and you go back one more generation, and Dusty says he was the son of a plumber. And that is Cody's heritage. But here this guy comes out, dressed in full suit, pocket watches, he's got his own bus."
Furthermore, Vince Russo explained that Cody Rhodes' character would make sense if he was embarrassed by his father and wanted to chart his own path.
"Fundamentally, that doesn't add up because, bro, if you're doing all that, now if you look at your father like an embarrassment, and people laughed, and Vince McMahon put him in polka dots, now that makes sense. But his presentation with his lineage is just all so fundamentally wrong." [10:21 - 11:28]
Check out the full video below:
Dutch Mantell praises WWE's booking of Cody Rhodes
On a recent episode of Sportskeeda's Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell pointed out how putting tag team gold on Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso allowed WWE to have the latter appear on SmackDown.
Mantell feels the tag title win would ensure the company could swiftly have The American Nightmare get involved with The Bloodline again.
"I think it's great because now Cody [Rhodes] is in the story. You've got to involve these people in the story somewhere, you get your result later on. But at least he's in the story. And wins and losses don't mean anything, really. Unless it's super, super important, and you have nowhere else to go with it. But now that Cody is in on the story. Jey Uso and Cody are together, so now it doesn't seem like (...) now it doesn't seem like if they hadn't been tagged in this, say later on a SmackDown, for Cody to run in and help his buddy, now it doesn't seem out of the left field."
With Cody having a staredown with Roman Reigns on this week's SmackDown, it's safe to say WWE sowed the seeds for a rematch between them at WrestleMania 40.
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