I didn’t watch RAW last Monday – had better things to do… but I did catch the Cody Rhodes promo… specifically, I caught the Cody Rhodes promo that other people uploaded because WWE’s own upload is cut down and censored, which is silly if you’re going to allow that shit on TV.
Personally, I thought it was a good promo and honestly, the fact that Cody dropped a couple colorful metaphors here and there showed that WWE is more than willing to let their talent push things a little depending on the situation. Is there a double standard present when the big stars are allowed to cuss while everyone has to adhere to PG standards? Of course, there is… and honestly, I don’t mind the PG limitations; it just means you have to be more thoughtful in regards to how to cut your promos. God forbid we need more horrible women promos where every other line is calling each other a “bitch” or something.
Let’s be real here: the story here is less about Cody vs. Roman for the title so much as it’s Cody vs. The Rock. And regardless of how you feel about the way things turned out with the whole Rock/Roman/Cody deal, when it comes to cutting promos, there is no one better than the Rock. That dude is on a whole other level compared to everyone else. Hell, he was on a whole other level two decades prior when the WWE roster was full of great talkers. Now try to find someone who can match Rock’s charisma and wit today. Good luck with that because you’re not going to find any.
After Rock’s colorful promos on Twitter and also on Smackdown, Cody needed to up the ante with his comeback. He might not be able to get to Rock’s level in terms of promos and comebacks, but he had to at least try. And for what it’s worth, I thought Cody did great. It wasn’t the emotional bit that he did last week; he actually showed some intensity here and he needed to do that without restraint. Otherwise, if you weren’t going to let Cody rip on Rock the way he did, then you may as well open the show with Cody eating a bowl of cereal backstage like a total loon.
The sad truth is that as much as I’m enjoying the back-and-forth between Rock and Cody, it seems like Roman is becoming a bit of an afterthought. That’s not something you want to see out of your reigning Undisputed champion of three years and counting. It’ll be interesting to see how this interaction between Cody and Roman turns out this Friday on Smackdown, because at the moment, Roman is in danger of being put in the same position as The Miz was when he was WWE Champion over a decade ago. Sure, he main-evented a Wrestlemania, but nobody gave a shit because it was all about Rock vs. John Cena.
And if I’m going to be honest, this highlights another reason why I feel a Rock vs. Roman feud would’ve been the drizzling shits. Roman might’ve improved a bit as a promo guy, but even Dwayne would’ve destroyed him in promos. Imagine what a fully-motivated Rock would’ve been like against this guy… and then Roman would kick his ass at Mania and we move on with our lives.
Listen, I still believe Cody should’ve finished his story last year – then none of this would’ve happened… but at least I can say that I’m enjoying the ride so far that’s mostly the result of dumb luck than anything. We’ll see what happens next.
dtm666 