Cody Rhodes should have turned heel

Hours before SmackDown, Cody Rhodes’ interview with media personality Chris Van Vliet went live, where he discussed the recent boos he’s been receiving. He said he felt honored to be considered a polarizing wrestler, something he believes he never was, though AEW fans might disagree.

Asked if he would try to win over his detractors, Rhodes referenced the series Rick and Morty and said, “I don’t care that you boo me because I’ve seen what you cheer.”

Then came SmackDown and his WrestleMania contract signing with Randy Orton. After Rhodes said he would always love him, Orton responded with violence. As “The Viper” shed his babyface skin, he shoved his friend and music star Jelly Roll, who had come to check on a bloody Rhodes. Orton then took a seat in the ring, holding the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Fans in the arena stood stunned, though many loudly chanted for Orton just as they had from the time both men came out. By the time SmackDown went off the air, it was clear WWE had turned the wrong guy heel.

Cody Rhodes claiming he never saw himself as a polarizing wrestler reads as revisionist history. AEW fans vociferously rejected his babyface persona and storylines. His vow never to turn heel only fueled the backlash. In hindsight, that refusal became a heel turn itself, although it may have gone over the audience’s heads.

“At AEW, I think trying to do what I was doing there at the end was just a bit too meta,” Rhodes told Sam Roberts in 2023. “For me to do that, to turn heel, is by saying verbally out loud, ‘I’m not going to do it’ — which is being a heel. But that’s not — it didn’t work, in a sense.”

In 2022, Rhodes left AEW and returned to WWE, where he received a hero’s welcome and eventually won the Undisputed Championship. But four years after losing fan support in AEW, the same is beginning to happen in WWE.

Rather than turn heel, meta or otherwise, Rhodes appears content to let fans react however they want as long as they make noise. It’s a path blazed by his mentor, John Cena, and carried on by Roman Reigns. While it led to commercial success for both men, fans openly grew frustrated with the performers and the product.

So Long as They Make Noise

Despite years of split crowds chanting “Let’s go, Cena, Cena Sucks,” WWE never turned John Cena heel, largely due to his merchandise sales and charitable work with groups like the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Instead, the company let Cena be, frustrating critics while endearing him further to supporters. Either way, he got a reaction, which seemed to be all WWE cared about.

That stubbornness continued as WWE anointed Roman Reigns as Cena’s successor. Though crowds grew tired of him, the company stayed the course, which only deepened fan resentment with what they were being given. Ironically, WWE enjoyed the success it long envisioned with Reigns as its leading man after relenting and turning him heel.

But instead of addressing the boos aimed at Rhodes and adjusting, WWE seems content to take a familiar route, even if it means creating friction with its audience again. Despite such negativity, reactions and merchandise sales ultimately vindicate the company’s decision.

Why fans are booing Cody Rhodes is complex. The simplest answer is that some have grown tired of his character, a condition worsened by WWE’s presentation.

In recent months, Rhodes received repeated chances to regain the Undisputed WWE Championship. While his rival Drew McIntyre often cheated him out of those opportunities, similar chances weren’t given to others McIntyre wronged, including Jacob Fatu and Sami Zayn.

Along the way, Rhodes gaslit and shamed fellow babyfaces and tried to claim CM Punk’s Survivor Series team as his own, all while his second title reign failed to recapture the magic of his first.

Rhodes’ popularity also suffered when WWE booked him against John Cena at last year’s WrestleMania during Cena’s retirement tour. Even with Cena going rogue, fans cheered the veteran, as they often do, regardless of how their character is presented.

In 2002, Hulk Hogan’s infamous semi-truck attack on The Rock should have cemented him as their program’s heel. Instead, fans only rallied behind Hogan even more during the pair’s iconic match at WrestleMania X-8.

Despite Orton’s cruelty, fans still chanted his name on SmackDown. Like Hogan then, Orton is a veteran nearing the end of his career. Audiences sense that and are unlikely to root against him, no matter what he does next.

Facing another legend on wrestling’s biggest stage for the second year in a row, Rhodes is likely to be treated like the villain despite being positioned as the hero, a bad omen for him and WWE’s future.

Cody Should Have Turned Heel

Should Rhodes retain his title at WrestleMania, his next challenger is unclear. As a babyface, no heel on WWE’s present roster feels strong enough to oppose him, which could lead to stagnant programming.

Had WWE run the same angle on SmackDown but had Rhodes betray Orton, they could have created the strong heel it currently lacks, delivering a moment both shocking and unexpected. Additionally, Rhodes’ turn could have been explained simply with his line to Chris Van Vliet:

“I don’t care that you boo me because I’ve seen what you cheer.”

That statement dismisses fans and challengers alike, opening several new storylines and casting Rhodes as a “dragon” for rising stars to slay.

Instead, Rhodes will likely continue to get mixed reactions, WWE will profit, and debates over whether he should turn heel will persist just as they did with Cena and Reigns.

Still, it’s a missed opportunity to breathe new life into the product and to revamp a character that has managed to sour fans in two promotions.