Opinion

Cody Rhodes: Pro Wrestling’s Best Heel

Published

7 years ago

March 29, 2018

For as long as I can remember, people have been telling me that Ring of Honor would never make it on a major scale. Many of the same people have been telling me that New Japan Pro Wrestling would never gain a viable audience in the United States.

The main reason they presented that I agreed with was, the fact that neither ROH or NJPW was particularly great when it came to character development. NJPW had the language barrier while ROH lacked a consistent roster & name recognition. Each promotion typically draws crowds based on the workrate. While fans like us love fantastic wrestling matches & moves whether there’s a story involved or not, the casual fan needs a stronger connection. They need a story. They need characters that they care about. Without either of those, any wrestling promotion is going to have a tough time competing for the American wrestling fan’s dollar.

It seems the tide is turning. ROH is drawing more fans than they ever have in their sixteen-year history that’s produced some of WWE’s biggest stars. New Japan just drew over 4,000 fans in Long Beach, California, and hope to draw even more than that when they run the Cow Palace in the Bay Area in July. I would bet Greg DeMarco’s house that they will.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that WWE is in trouble anytime soon. I am saying that both ROH & NJPW are stronger than they’ve ever been, and stronger than most people thought they ever would be. From where I sit, there is one person to credit for it. It’s not Okada. It isn’t Omega. It’s not even Dalton Castle, as much as I love that man & his Boys.

It’s the American Nightmare.

All In Cody Rhodes

That suggestion, of course, is kryptonite to many. My colleagues on multiple websites would vigorously disagree with this assessment. My best friend of multiple decades isn’t particularly high on his in-ring work. Everybody will line up to tell me that Cody isn’t the greatest wrestler of all time. He doesn’t do the most flips. He doesn’t do the most submission moves. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him throw a lariat. I can tell you one thing he does better than anybody else I see in professional wrestling right now. He can make people hate him.

My main criticism of Bullet Club ever since it debuted is the fact that they want to be cool heels so they can sell t-shirts & make money. I understand why, as professional wrestling is a business. It just makes for a less enjoyable product from my point of view. I like my heels to have no redeemable values. I want them to be complete assholes that you really can’t get behind unless you’re just an evil person. Heels will always have some crowd support. It’s the ones that can even manage to piss off those fans that really stand out.

Everybody that gets released from WWE will soon after talk about how the handcuffs are taken off. They’ll claim that WWE held them back from achieving their full potential. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but many of these people prove to be liars. I also think that fans tend to misinterpret what wrestlers mean when they say the handcuffs are taken off. Even the wrestlers themselves fail to fully take advantage when those proverbial handcuffs are removed.

To be fair to those gentlemen, they don’t know the business as well as Cody does. Their father wasn’t one of the greatest characters & bookers in the history of professional wrestling. When Cody got out of WWE, it wasn’t to have longer matches and do cooler moves & win more championships. The main reason Cody left was because he was held back creatively. He knew that WWE saw him in a certain light, and he was never going to reach his full potential unless he got out. He wasn’t going to break out on his own & become a legendary figure like his father was as long as he was under the WWE umbrella.

Ever since leaving WWE, Cody has embraced the darker side of his personality. There was a period of time where he had to be a good guy because indy fans will cheer ex-WWE guys right out of the box no matter what. After that passed, he became a total freaking asshole. Outside of his wife Brandi, he hasn’t been able to foster too many long-term friendships.

Cody’s cool. Cody’s a heel. Cody isn’t a cool heel.

The peak of Cody’s assholishness has been the breaking up of Bullet Club. Everything was fine with Kenny Omega as leader. The problems started when they took Cody into the group. He isn’t at the point where he wants to take a back seat to anybody. The whole point of leaving WWE was the fact that he didn’t want to be a background player. If he was going to join a stable, he was going to be the leader.

Which was fine, except for the fact that people preferred Omega in the role. Cody’s managed to get the other members of the Elite on his side, but the split between Kenny & Cody has extended to dissension between the rest of the Club as well. For their part, the Guerrillas of Destiny don’t seem interested in taking either side.

The drama between Cody, Kenny, Kota Ibushi, the Young Bucks & other people crossing their paths has made for some dramatic television & YouTube videos. Go check out the Being The Elite YouTube channel if you haven’t already. The knock against New Japan all these years has been lack of storylines, but I’d put this up against anything WWE’s presenting right now. That’s not me taking a shot against WWE, they’ve got some pretty good storylines going on. I just don’t think they’re as dramatic as this one. Cody’s ability to be a tremendous asshole takes it to another level, and takes the companies he works for to another level.

Ring of Honor has had some quality bad guys on top of their cards. Men like Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson & Nigel McGuinness could all get some good heat. CM Punk was a master at getting fans to hate him. ROH fans, who by & large cared about workrate more than any other attribute a wrestler possessed, still respected these men at the end of the day.

New Japan has had a bevy of talented top stars. Okada & Tanahashi’s feud will go down in the history books forever. The problem Japanese stars face with American audiences is that it’s tough for them to get heat without playing the stereotypical Japanese heel role. Even doing that, there’s only so much heat that can draw. Taijiri was a great heel but he was never a main eventer. Yokozuna didn’t exactly set box office records. Great Muta was in WCW so he was probably screwed either way.

Casual fans are inclined not to care about wrestlers that don’t speak English. Hardcore fans typically love Japanese wrestlers regardless of face/heel alignment. Put those two factors together, and you see how it’s tough for New Japan to make a dent in this market.

Unless, of course, they find themselves an American Nightmare.

Cody might not have the best matches on the card. Dave Meltzer might not be giving him six snowflakes anytime soon. He’s better than anybody else in New Japan or ROH at making the people care about his match or anything else he’s involved in. If you want to include WWE, there’s only one person in the business that gets a better heel response than Cody, and that’s Roman Reigns.

The worse Cody gets, the better he is.

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Launched in 2017, the Chairshot Radio Network presents you with the best in sports, entertainment, and sports entertainment. Wrestling and wrestling crossover podcasts + the most interesting content + the most engaging hosts = the most entertaining podcasts you’ll find!

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

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THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

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Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

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Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Money In The Bank

Extra, extra read all about it… Chairshot Staff picks are in!!!

Published

2 weeks ago

June 6, 2025

PC Tunney

Sing it with me… money money money money moneeeeeeeeeyeeeeee… everybody’s got a price! MONEY IN THE BANK is here!!! How money will our staff picks be?!?

AJ – Roxanne Perez
Andrew – Stephanie Vaquer – *Bubba Sparxxx Impression* I don’t tell stories, I let them tell theyself.
Dave – Guilia – A stacked field but I just like her here.
DJ – Naomi
DPP – Roxanne Perez
Jason – Alexa Bliss
Patrick – Roxanne Perez
Rey – Naomi – If Naomi loses, we riot!
Rob – Naomi
Greg – Alexa Bliss – Bliss has had huge reactions since returning and is moving a ton of merch. While I can see them wanting to build Roxanne Perez, Giulia, or Stephanie Vaquer, I think Alexa Bliss.

Tunney’s Take: Rhea Ripley – I’ll make my case short and sweet… Mami in the Bank! You can’t leave that money on the table.

Chairshot Pick – Tie – Naomi 3 & Roxanne Perez 3 (Alexa Bliss 2, Giulia 1, Rhea Ripley 1, Stephanie Vaquer 1)

AJ – LA Knight
Andrew – El Grande Americano – Feels correct given his push and the fact he’s over.
Dave – Seth Rollins – Got to push that new faction.
DJ – LA Knight
DPP – El Grande Americano
Jason – LA Knight
Patrick – Solo Sikoa
Rey – LA Knight – Looks like another push, and he does have history with Cena.
Rob – Solo Sikoa
Greg – Seth Rollins – This company is extremely high in the El Grande Americano gimmick, but this match comes down to Seth Rollins or LA Knight. Given the Rollins storyline, it’s his briefcase to win.

Tunney’s Take: El Grande Americano – Picture this: Chad Gable wins the AAA Mega Championship and El Grande Americano wins MITB! WHAT A SATURDAY in LA!!!

Chairshot Pick – LA Knight 4 (El Grande Americano 3, Seth Rollins 2, Solo Sikoa 2)

AJ – Becky Lynch – Sadly
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I still don’t care about Lyra.
Dave – Lyra Valkyria – Starting to warm up to her and Becky has a lot to do with that.
DJ – Lyra Valkyria
DPP – Becky Lynch
Jason – Becky Lynch
Patrick – Lyra Valkyria
Rey – Becky Lynch – Put some fire on the Irish Beef.
Rob – Becky Lynch
Greg – Becky Lynch – I don’t think you do a rematch here just to have Becky lose again. Unless Bayley shows up to help Lyra.

Tunney’s Take: Becky Lynch – A big part of me feels that winning this title checks off a major box for Becks in her HOF career.

Chairshot Pick – Becky Lynch 8-3

AJ – Cena & Paul
Andrew – Rhodes & Uso – Easy way for Cena to lose without eating the pinfall.
Dave – Rhodes & Uso – Get the QB back on the winning track.
DJ – Rhodes & Uso
DPP – Rhodes & Uso
Jason – Cena & Paul
Patrick – Cena & Paul
Rey – Rhodes & Uso – Heels usually lose these kinds of matches. Logan takes the pin.
Rob – Cena & Paul
Greg – Rhodes & Uso – I hope Jey isn’t an afterthought here like Cody was last fall when he was paired up with Roman. I think Cody pins Cena to set up Cody-Cena 2 at SummerSlam.

Tunney’s Take: Cena & Paul – I don’t think Cena is involved in another loss until he loses the WWE Championship. I also think Logan Paul is NOT done trying to capture Jey Uso’s World Heavyweight Championship. …Travis Scott in the house?

Chairshot Pick – 6-5 Rhodes & Uso

In closing I want to thank everyone on the panel for participating with their picks! You can follow each prognosticator/podcaster on X @ the handles below. We all enjoy Pro Wrestling so remember three things… be respectful of others, comparison is the thief of joy and HAVE FUN!

AJ – @PhenomenalAJB
Andrew – @IWCWarChief
Dave – @AttitudeAgg
DJ – @TheMindlessPod
DPP – @itsmeDPP
Jason – @JediFett
Patrick – @WrestlngRealist
Rey – @itsreycash
Rob – @rbonne1
Greg – @gregdemarco44
PC – @PCTunney
TheChairshot.com – @ChairshotMedia

prowrestlingtees.com/TheChairshot – a PLETHORA of GREAT designs…MAKES A GREAT GIFT!

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SUNDAY – Keeping the news ridiculous… The Oddity / The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE’s PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS…IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O’Dowd’s 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

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About Chairshot Radio Network

MONDAY - Bandwagon Nerds (entertainment & popular culture)

TUESDAY - Musical Chairs (music) / Hockey Talk (NHL)

WEDNESDAY - The Greg DeMarco Show (wrestling)

THURSDAY - Keeping the news ridiculous... The Oddity / Chairshot NFL (NFL)

FRIDAY - DWI Podcast (Drunk Wrestling Intellect)

SATURDAY - The Mindless Wrestling Podcast

SUNDAY - The Front and Center Sports Podcast

CHAIRSHOT RADIO NETWORK PODCAST SPECIALS

Attitude Of Aggression Podcast & The Big Five Project (chronologically exploring WWE's PPV/PLE history)

TheChairshot.com PRESENTS...IMMEDIATE POST WWE PLE REACTIONS w/ DJ(Mindless), Tunney(DWI) & Friends

Patrick O'Dowd's 5X5

Classic POD is WAR

Chairshot Radio Network Your home for the hardest hitting podcasts... Sports, Entertainment and Sports Entertainment!

All Shows On Demand

Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Opinion

Chairshot Staff Picks: Backlash St. Louis

Chairshot Staff picks!!!

Published

1 month ago

May 9, 2025

PC Tunney

May is upon us and with that, so is Backlash from St. Louis! What does the first PLE after WrestleMania have in store for the WWE Universe? Let’s see if the Chairshot Staff can properly interpret the crystal ball of rasslin’ future.

AJ – Pat MacAfee – Gunther has to start losing control and who better than an announcer.
Andrew – Pat MacAfee – Goldberg getting involved does seem correct here.
Dave – Gunther – He’s not losing to a broadcaster.
DJ – Gunther – Pat is sent to the shadow realm until football season is over.
DPP – Gunther – Post match beat down leads to Pat time off.
Jason – Gunther – One massive spot and or bump from Pat.
Patrick – Gunther
Rey – Gunther – RIP MacAfee, t’was a good life.
Rob – Gunther
Greg – Pat MacAfee – Why? Goooooldbeeerrrrrgggggg!

Tunney’s Take: Gunther – Seems like the right pick here. Pat may be getting some time off and Gunther needs more heat.

Chairshot Pick – GUNTHER 8-3

AJ – Lyra Valkyria – Becky’s hopefully putting her over, still mad about Dakota.
Andrew – Becky Lynch – I have no real interest in Lyra currently.
Dave – Becky Lynch – Lyra is boring AF!
DJ – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley interferes.
DPP – Becky Lynch – Becky cheats and steals the title.
Jason – Lyra Valkyria – Bayley costs Becks.
Patrick – Becky Lynch
Rey – Becky Lynch – Story needs to jump up a bit, Becky Charlotte’s Lyra.
Rob – Lyra Valkyria
Greg – Becky Lynch – It’s been fun, Lyra. (It kinda hasn’t)

Tunney’s Take: Lyra Valkyria – Bayley’s interference should set up some type of program with Becky as we head towards Summer(Slam).

Chairshot Pick – BECKY LYNCH 6-5

AJ – Jacob Fatu – Great way to put him over w/ two former WHCs and LA Knight.
Andrew – Jacob Fatu – He’s Jacob Fatu!
Dave – Jacob Fatu – Too soon to pull the belt off him.
DJ – Jacob Fatu – Priest and LA can’t decide who’s is bigger.
DPP – Jacob Fatu – Your hardcore match, tables and chairs involved.
Jason – Jacob Fatu – The Champ retains due to or in spite of Solo.
Patrick – Jacob Fatu
Rey – Jacob Fatu – All gas. No brakes. Ain’t losing.
Rob – Jacob Fatu
Greg – Jacob Fatu – Someone from The Samoan Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Jacob Fatu – Uncle Mo is on Fatu’s side and other than Knight, I don’t see Drew or Priest holding the US title in the current circumstances of this title’s landscape.

Chairshot Pick – JACOB FATU 11-0

AJ – Dominic Mysterio – Judgement Day shenanigans just leading up to Finn turning on Dom later.
Andrew – Penta – Dom’s fine having a short reign, could also work for pushing AAA.
Dave – Dominic Mysterio – He’s probably more over than Penta.
DJ – Dominic Mysterio – Dirty Dom takes home the gold and the girl.
DPP – Dominic Mysterio – Big Head helps Dom pull out the win.
Jason – Dominic Mysterio – By hook and crook.
Patrick – Dominic Mysterio
Rey – Dominic Mysterio – Latino Heat keeps burning. Finn gets closer to the edge.
Rob – Dominic Mysterio
Greg – Dominic Mysterio – Someone from The Guerrero Dynasty ain’t winning a title just to drop it.

Tunney’s Take: Dominic Mysterio – That belt looks good with the king of chicken tendys. I can see Penta and Rey reforming as a tag team sooner than later.

Chairshot Pick – DOMINIC MYSTERIO 10-1

AJ – John Cena – Why? Cena wins, lol.
Andrew – John Cena – Shenanigans ensue so it’s not a clean win.
Dave – John Cena – The last time is now.
DJ – John Cena – Randy hears voices telling him he needs an Attitude Adjustment.
DPP – John Cena – Cena tries to cheat but the ref doesn’t call for a DQ.
Jason – John Cena – Nefarious means, Randy not ready for Evil John Cena.
Patrick – John Cena
Rey – John Cena – Cena just counting down the dates. Should be fun though.
Rob – John Cena
Greg – John Cena – You know they want Cody to be the hero in the end.

Tunney’s Take: Randy Orton – Once upon a time Randy got himself intentionally disqualified and it cost John. Saturday, history repeats itself with a 180-degree twist. Cena retains via Orton DQ victory. This time, Travis Scott’s appearance takes care of that task.

Chairshot Pick – JOHN CENA 10-1